Node.js unites the client-side together with the server-side software that you can use for running your websites in the Javascript stack. It’s not a framework as you may think from the first sight. It’s a development platform and a runtime environment as well. Its benefit is that you can test the software at the same time when running it. So you can get all the bugs fixed in real time. There’s an event loop that waits for the requests from the client and forwards them to the database or the server.
You can consider Node.js to be a server that you can fill in with SSL or TCP when you want to have a dynamic server. And all you will need is a few lines of script. Node.js is the letter N in the MEAN software stack that consists of MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS that come prior to it. Google V8 engine is used for running the code.
What can you build with Node.js?
You get an event-driven model for the application that can handle several threads at the same time. You can get a real-time API, software together with network programs. But if you want to cope with multiple threads, you may consider using Java for these purposes to avoid any bottlenecks with the single-thread approach.
Node.js is a perfect choice if you want to craft a common web server app especially in case when you need to quickly add some updates while the app is still running. You can use Node.js for developing efficient software with the help of Express.js. It’s a part of the MEAN stack. Or you can use Koa.js. It’s not so lightweight, but it’s gaining more and more popularity these days.
Why is Node.js so great for you?
The first thing that we’d like to tell you is simplicity. Node.js is easy to learn and start using for developing applications. We call it an excellent programmer productivity. You may find it to be similar to Java, Python or PHP. If you need less actions from the programmer to be done, you should definitely consider Node.js as a solution for your projects. You can visit LinkedIn, Paypal or Walmart websites to see how everything works thanks to Node.js.
Here are the key advantages of the Node.js:
Node.js is fast. The speed of Node.js is the same as the speed of Javascript. You get great built-in libraries that will make your life easy and fun. You can use JSON, event-loop model for processing requests and other things that make Javascript so fast.
Node.js is cross-platform. You can use it on Windows, OS X, Linux and so on.
Event-driven programming. The work of the Node.js is similar to the work of AJAX that processes connections on an event-driven basis. You don’t get any bottlenecks here as all the calls are separated one from another when they are addressed at the same time. You get high server speed in this case.
Google V8 engine. It can quickly compile the code. You can watch how Walmart is using it for their projects.
A wakeup for a callback. You can see how Node.js dives into hibernation when there are no calls.
We can sum everything up by saying that Node.js is gaining more and more popularity among the back-end programmers for the web development these days.