If you are thinking of building scalable, blazingly fast applications, you may have asked yourself, “What is Node? ”
You may be entirely new to coding or have some basic knowledge, and I will help you understand what Node.js is, how it works, why it is popular, and where it fits in with the JavaScript ecosystem.
So, let’s jump into this new world of non-blocking I/O, event loops, and JS outside of the browser. Let’s have a look at it!
What is Node.js?
Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment that allows developers to run JavaScript code outside of the browser, mostly on servers. In simple words, using JavaScript to create residential applications, APIs, real-time systems, and even desktop tools. Node.js does not use a traditional server environment. It runs code on Chrome’s V8 engine that compiles the JavaScript code directly into native machine code, which is incredibly fast.
Why is Node.js Important for Modern Development?
Node.js has shifted the boundaries of what JavaScript can accomplish. It is no longer just ride-sharing apps and animations, but managing huge platforms, including sites such as Netflix, LinkedIn, Uber, and PayPal. And it does so for two reasons: speed and scalability, along with the convenience of having JavaScript used throughout the stack on both the front and back end. With the Node.js programming language, you write once and run everywhere, whether on the server, in the browser, or IoT.
What is Node.js in a Nut Shell?
Here are Node.js at a glance:
Runs on the Chrome V8 JavaScript Engine.
Single-threaded runner but supports asynchronous and event-driven code.
Uses Node.js modules to improve modularity and reuse.
Provided with Node Package Manager (NPM) for managing dependencies.
Lightweight, fast, and great for real-time applications.
History of Node.js
In 2009, Ryan Dahl introduced Node.js as a revolutionary approach to addressing high-volume web traffic. At the time, traditional server-side platforms (for example, PHP or Java) experienced difficulty managing concurrent connections. He observed that most web servers were spending much time just sitting idle, waiting for operations like reading files or making calls to the database to finish. As a solution to this approach, he launched an event-driven, non-blocking model for managing more connections with fewer resource demands. According to the research, it consistently scores as one of the top technologies developers want to learn. It has become popular for several reasons:
JavaScript is one of the most used programming languages in the world.
Rapid growth of Node.js hosting services like Heroku, Vercel, AWS, etc.
Multiple packages are readily available via NPM.
Active and thriving community.
What Makes Node.js Different?
Compared to traditional backend platforms, Node.js has a single-threaded, event-driven architecture, allowing it to manage thousands of concurrent connections with a low overhead.
Let’s explore some of the key features that make it different!
Non-blocking I/O: Perform operations like reading files or querying a database without blocking the execution of another code.
Event-driven: Everything in Node revolves around events, making your app extremely responsive. This means that Node.js is well suited for real-time apps like chat, gaming or streaming
How Node.js Works?
Here’s a simple explanation of how Node.js works:
1. Request comes in.
2. Node pushes it to the event queue.
3. The event loop constantly checks this event queue.
4. If a task is I/O-bound, it is run by worker threads behind the scenes.
5. When finished, they return the result to the main thread and the client.
6. These patterns prevent “blocking” thus making your app fast and efficient.
Common Terms for Node.js Terminology
Event Loop: The primary mechanism for asynchronous callbacks.
V8 Engine: Developed by Google, the JavaScript engine used in the Chrome browser and Node.js.
NPM (Node Package Manager): A registry and tool to manage Node packages.
Node.js Modules: Node.js code is made of independent blocks of reusable code.
Non-blocking I/O: Does not pause execution while awaiting the use of resources.
Why Developers Choose Node.js?
Node.js is much more than a simple backend framework. It’s a powerful JavaScript runtime focused on performance and scalability. Here are the top features of Node.js that have made it popular among developers!
Single-Threaded Event Loop
At its core, Node’s paradigm is based on a single-threaded event loop; even though it runs on the V8 engine, it has a single-threaded design. Unlike traditional servers such as Apache or Java, which create a thread for each request, Node.js runs multiple connections on a single thread because of its event loop and non-blocking I/O capabilities. Node.js is lightweight and an excellent solution for real-time, high-concurrency applications such as chat apps, gaming platforms, or live data streaming.
Asynchronous & Non-blocking I/O
The major benefit of Node.js is its non-blocking I/O approach. Essentially, you can perform I/O operations such as processing files, querying a database, and making HTTP requests asynchronously and without the block code execution. For example, if your server is awaiting data from a database. In that case, your Node.js server can handle requests from other sources while waiting for the responses, thus, providing efficient performance and resource utilization.
Powered by Google’s V8 Engine
Node.js runs on Google’s V8 JavaScript engine, which compiles JavaScript into machine code in real time. It performs best with JavaScript features like async/await and ES6 modules.
Cross-Platform Compatibility
Facilitates to write Node.js code on Windows, macOS, or Linux, and run it almost anywhere on your laptop, on servers, or in your cloud of choice, making it a true cross-platform.
Full-Stack JavaScript with Node.js
One of the biggest benefits is the ability to use JavaScript for both the backend and frontend! No more jumping between JavaScript and PHP or Java — Node.js allows for full-stack development, leading to reusable logic, shared libraries, and faster builds.
Examples of Real-World Applications
Some of the most common types of applications built with Node.js are!
Real-time Chat Applications like WhatsApp clones.
Streaming Platforms like Netflix utilizes Node.js for fast and modular systems.
REST APIs and Microservices are ideal for highly scalable backends.
IoT Dashboards due to its event-driven architecture.
Single Page Applications.(SPAs)
Additionally, Node.js is used by companies like PayPal, LinkedIn, Uber and NASA for their performance-critical applications.
What are Node.js modules?
Node.js modules are reusable sections of code, basically, JavaScript libraries or tools that help organize your application in a managed way. Every Node.js file is a module. There are two types: 1. Built-in modules – Like fs (file system), http, path, os, etc.
2. Custom modules – Code you can write and then organize into files/folders to reuse.
3. Third-party modules – Can be downloaded from the node package manager (npm) such as express, axios, dotenv, etc.
What is a Node Package Manager (NPM)?
Node Package Manager, sometimes referred to as NPM, is the world’s largest supplier of open-source libraries! The NPM allows you to:
1. Download third-party packages.
2. Manage project dependencies.
3. Share your own modules with others.
4. Automate scripts with npm run.
Benefits of Using NPM
It helps speed up development by using existing tools.
It has more than 2 million packages available.
Easily provides version management and environment management.
It allows package-locking for consistency.
Some popular NPM packages are!
express – web server framework.
nodemon – will restart your app as files change.
mongoose – MongoDB object modeling.
cors – cross-origin requests.
How to Download Node.js and install NPM?
The first step in your journey to becoming a full-stack developer is to install Node.js.
Step 1: Download Node.js
Go to the official Node.js website. When you install Node.js, NPM is installed automatically.
Step 2: Check the installation
node -v
npm -v
This is just to check if Node.js and NPM were successfully installed.
Steps to Build Your First App Using Node.js – Beginner’s Tutorial
Now, let’s bring everything together and create your first Node.js application – a simple HTTP server.
Step 1: Create Your Project
Open a terminal and type:
mkdir my-first-node-app
cd my-first-node-app
npm init -y
It creates a project and initializes package.json.
Step 2: Write the Code
Create a file called app.js and add the code as mentioned below!
// Load the HTTP module
const http = require(‘http’);
// Create a server
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.statusCode = 200;
res.setHeader(‘Content-Type’, ‘text/plain’);
res.end(‘Hello, world! Welcome to Node.js\n’);
});
// Listen on port 3000
server.listen(3000, () => {
console.log(‘Server running at http://localhost:3000/’);
});
Step 3: Run the Server
In the terminal:
node app.js
Navigate to http://localhost:3000 in your browser. You’ll see:
Hello, world! Welcome to Node.js
That’s it! So, finally, you’ve just built a basic Node.js application!
How to Use NodeJS for Real-World Applications?
One of the best ways to get a feel for a technology is to see who uses it, and what they are building. Some of the world’s most performance demanding platforms are now using Node.js for its powerful backend capabilities :
Netflix: Serves over 200 million users using Node.js. It has the capability to scale up effectively for high performance streaming, and modularity has written critical backend functions in Node.js.
PayPal: Migrated from Java to Node.js, which resulted in a 35% decrease in their average response time, and developer productivity doubled.
LinkedIn: Rebuilt their mobile stack on Node.js, thus reducing their number of servers in production from 30 to 3.
However, it’s clear that Node.js is more than just a framework – it runs and powers several major platforms. Let’s explore some common use cases for Node.js!
Real Time Chat Applications
Node.js is perfect for real time transfer of data, whether in chat applications, multiplayer gaming, or collaborative editing applications. Its single-threaded event loop combined with WebSocket semantics and two-way communication between the client and the server enables this.
REST APIs & Microservices
Frameworks like Express.js make it quick and easy to build scalable REST APIs. And with the Node.js package manager (NPM), you can install and use other tools like cors, jsonwebtoken, or mongoose in minutes.
IoT & Serverless Applications
Node.js is perfect for both lightweight runtimes and for running on tiny devices. Combining Node.js with AWS Lambda or Azure Functions allows for easy serverless deployment.
Node.js Hosting Service Options
Are you creating a Node.js application and want to deploy it? You can check out:
Heroku: Fast deployment process and Git-based push.
Vercel: Great for JAMstack or frontend-heavy applications.
AWS Lambda: Event-driven, serverless application.
Additionally, Render, Glitch, and DigitalOcean are solid choices.
Advantages of Node.js
Let’s dive into the primary advantages of Node.js, which have made it extremely popular among developers and tech buddies.
Asynchronous, Non-blocking Input/Output
The key characteristic of Node.js is its event-driven architecture, which utilizes non-blocking input/output. This makes it suitable for real-time applications and lets you efficiently handle thousands of simultaneous connections.
Single Programming Language (JavaScript)
Node.js means developers can build applications with JavaScript on the front-end and back-end, reducing context-switching and helping to create a more seamless full-stack development process.
High Performance through the V8 Engine
Node.js is powered by Google’s V8 engine, which allows Node.js to execute JavaScript code at very fast speeds. The V8 engine compiles the code and runs it at the machine code level, significantly increasing performance.
Enormous Ecosystem through NPM
The Node Package Manager (NPM) is the largest ecosystem of open-source libraries in the world. The NPM allows developers to easily install, share, and manage libraries and dependencies with one command.
Full-Stack Capabilities
Node.js combined with a framework like Express.js or NestJS, allows developers to build REST APIs, real-time apps, serverless functions, and more, all in one stack.
Scalable for Microservices & Serverless
Due to its lightweight and stateless design, Node.js is particularly well-suited for microservices architectures and serverless environments like AWS Lambda, Vercel, etc.
Cons of Node.js
Node.js comes with its own drawbacks. Here are the disadvantages of Node.js you may run into and how you can mitigate them.
Not Suitable for CPU Intensive Applications
Node.js is single-threaded, so it’s unsuitable for applications with high computation requirements, such as video rendering or data science applications. As a result, you can use Node.js worker threads or schedule CPU-intensive tasks for micro-services written in Java, Python or Rust.
Callback Hell & Complexity
Asynchronous style coding produces nested callbacks and makes for maintainable code that will be difficult to read. You can use async/await and utilize libraries like Bluebird to produce well organized code.
Mature Tools for Enterprise Still Developing
Node.js is the best technology for your startup, and the tools will improve as Node development continues. If you are in an enterprise software company and used to the .NET or Java ecosystems, you may miss some mature tooling and compliance features from these ecosystems. Use TypeScript, NestJS, and some monitoring tooling like New Relic or Datadog for more structure & observability.
Performance Bottlenecks with Large Applications
In large-scale Node.js applications, memory mishandling or event-loop blocking will contribute to slow application performance. Leverage tools like PM2 for application monitoring and large applications.
Future of Node.js
Let’s talk about trends in the future of Node.js development and why it’s still thriving!
Increasing Popularity
The Stack Overflow Developer Survey shows Node.js still ranked as one of the most used and loved platforms.
Worker Threads and Multithreading
With the introduction of worker threads, Node.js is closing the gap in CPU-heavy processing, allowing the code to work in a more versatile manner.
Ecosystem Growth
With frameworks like NestJS, WebAssembly and Node.js, it opens many doors for edge computing and future-ready ecosystems.
Community Growth and Open Source Properties
With so many open-source contributors and frequent updates, long-term support (LTS) of Node.js continues to evolve in a great open-source manner.
Conclusion
Node.js is a powerful, event-driven runtime that allows developers to use JavaScript on the server side, making full-stack development easy. It is fast, and scalable, and benefits from the immense Node Package Manager (NPM) and community support. Node.js also provides performance advantages when building real-time apps, REST APIs, or microservices by allowing for non-blocking I/O and lightweight architecture.
While disadvantages of Node.js exist, especially limits to CPU-intensive workloads, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in most web applications. As more organizations adopt Node.js, there are great prospects for Node’s future. If you are prepared to start, download Node js, go through a tutorial, and start your journey into modern web development!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is Node.js?
Node.js is an open-source, server-side runtime environment that allows JavaScript to run outside the browser. It’s built on Google’s V8 engine and is known for its speed, scalability, and asynchronous architecture.
2. Why do I need Node.js?
Node.js allows developers to quickly create code using JavaScript, on both the frontend and backend. It’s especially useful for creating scalable network applications, and service applications like chat applications, APIs, and streaming services.
3. Is Node.js a programming language?
No, Node.js is not a programming language. It is a runtime environment that runs JavaScript on the server side.
4. How does Node.js work?
Node.js runs a single-threaded, event-driven architecture that allows for non-blocking I/O operations. The event loop, as well as worker threads, allows Node.js to handle multiple connections.
5. What is a Node.js module?
Node.js modules are reusable blocks of code that can be pre-built into the system, added by third-party sources, or custom made by the developer.
6. What is a Node Package Manager?
Node Package Manager (NPM) is the go-to package manager for Node.js, It serves a very important function by enabling developers to install, share, and manage packages of code! NPM is also the world’s largest ecosystem of open-source libraries!
7. Where can I download Node.js?
You can get Node.js at the official site here: https://nodejs.org. It includes both Node and NPM, and is available to install on all major platforms like Windows, macOS, and Linux.
8. What applications use Node.js?
Node.js is used in many real-time applications such as chat applications, online gaming, streaming apps, REST APIs, IoT systems, and serverless functions.
9. What are the advantages for startups with Node.js?
Node.js enables fast development of MVPs (minimum viable products), the ability to share code (JavaScript along the entire stack), scalability, and a large, helpful community of support.
10. Is Node.js better than PHP or Python?
It depends! Node.js performs better for real-time and event-driven applications, while PHP and Python could be a better fit for data-heavy or CPU-bound tasks. If full-stack JavaScript and performance are important, Node.js is often better!
11. What is the Express framework in Node.js?
Express is a lightweight and versatile web app framework for Node.js that helps create powerful APIs and web applications.
12. What are the drawbacks of Node.js?
Node.js is not ideal for CPU-heavy tasks, is notoriously difficult to learn async, and can produce unmanageable callback hell without care.
13. Is Node.js a viable long-term option?
Definitely, the Node.js ecosystem is substantial and constantly evolving, used widely by enterprises, with continual benefits and improvements to align with the latest trends, including serverless computing and microservices.
14. How can I learn Node.js for beginners?
To develop your Node.js skills, begin with a simple Node.js tutorial on FreeCodeCamp or Udemy. As you advance, build small applications, try different Node.js modules, and contribute to an open-source project.
