What is Node.js?

Many web developers use Node.js. Its powerful features and advantages make it a popular technology.

A brief introduction to Node.js

Node.js, also known as NodeJS, is a runtime environment for JavaScript. It’s an open-source server-side platform. This cross-platform runtime environment is very popular for web development.

Ryan Dahl created Node.js in 2009. He built it on Google Chrome’s JavaScript V8 Engine. Node.js has undergone many rounds of development since then, and it will likely see much more of it.

Node.js was created to create server-side and networking applications. Creating scalable and fast web apps was another key objective for creating Node.js.

Advantages of Node.js

Node.js offers the following advantages:

• It’s free and open-source.
• Node.js is based on JavaScript. Many developers already know JavaScript, and they can easily learn Node.js.
• Even other developers can easily learn Node.js.
• Node.js enables asynchronous programming. This non-blocking mechanism eliminates waiting time for a Node.js server. This helps to develop scalable web applications despite Node.js being single-threaded. Concurrency and load balancing makes Node.js scalable.
• Since Node.js is built on the V8 JavaScript Engine of Google Chrome, it’s fast.
• Node.js applications don’t have the issue of buffering. They create data outputs in chunks. This makes Node.js useful for streaming applications.
• Node.js is a cross-platform library. Developers can use it on platforms like Windows, macOS, OS X, Unix, and Linux.
• You use the “JavaScript everywhere” paradigm if you use Node.js for web development. For front-end development, you typically use JavaScript or a JavaScript-based framework. Node.js enables you to use JavaScript for back-end development too. That’s full-stack development, which means less code and fewer files. That makes your project simpler. You can find developers relatively easily.
• This open-source runtime environment has a growing and vibrant community of developers. Many developers create very useful open-source tools. Node.js developers can easily install them using the Node Package Manager (NPM). This makes software development easier. You can also get excellent community support.
• Popular databases like MongoDB use JavaScript. You can use them easily when you utilize Node.js for back-end development.

How popular is Node.js?

Node.js is consistently popular with web developers. The Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2021 report ranks Node.js as the 6^th most popular technology. This report also states it as the 9^th most-loved technology.

Where can you use Node.js?

Node.js is a prominent choice for web development. You can also use it for the following purposes:

• Creating apps with real-time chat capabilities;
• Developing IoT applications;
• Coding streaming apps;
• Developing complex single-page applications (SPAs);
• Creating applications that use RESTful APIs.

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