An open-source, event-driven JavaScript runtime, Node JS is used to execute JavaScript outside of the browser. The cross-platform runtime environment allows developers to build server-side applications.
Working with a Node JS development company can bring numerous benefits and capabilities to different types of JavaScript projects.
Fastify: It’s a highly efficient web framework for Node.js with a focus on providing the best developer experience with the least overhead and a powerful plugin architecture. It’s ideal for building fast HTTP APIs and web applications.
NestJS: It’s a versatile, full-featured, and modular web application framework built for the enterprise. It leverages TypeScript and combines elements of OOP (Object Oriented Programming), FP (Functional Programming), and FRP (Functional Reactive Programming).
Socket.io: Still a popular choice for real-time, bidirectional, and event-based communication between the browser and the server. It provides features like broadcasting to multiple sockets, storing data associated with each client, and asynchronous I/O.
Strapi: It’s an open-source, Node.js-based headless CMS. It gives developers the freedom to use their favorite tools and frameworks while also allowing editors to manage and distribute their content wherever it’s needed.
PM2: It continues to be a staple for Node.js applications, offering features like process management, automatic restarts, load balancing, and more.
ESLint: This is a pluggable and configurable linter tool for identifying and reporting on patterns in JavaScript. It helps developers write code that adheres to certain guidelines or standards.
Webpack: It’s a static module bundler for modern JavaScript applications. It takes the dependencies and generates one or more bundles capable of being loaded by a browser.
Babel: Despite the evolution of JavaScript, Babel remains an essential tool for transforming modern ECMAScript code into backward-compatible versions for current and older browsers or environments.
There are a number of important Node.js features, all of which would benefit your business.
Technically speaking, Node.js is a server-side platform, built on Google Chrome’s V8 Engine for building fast and scalable network applications. Node.js uses a non-blocking I/O model which makes the platform ideal for data-intensive applications that run across distributed devices.
As you might expect, Node.js applications are written in JavaScript and are capable of running on any platform that supports the runtime — which means Linux, macOS, and Windows.
This is a simple but important question. Where JavaScript can greatly enhance the feature set and design of a website, Node.js allows you to take JavaScript and create actual applications with it. So instead of just adding fancy buttons, pop-ups, and interactive bits to a website, you can create applications and features that can serve thousands of users simultaneously, without bogging down your server.
This is made possible by the Event Loop, which is, basically speaking, a program that waits for events and then dispatches them once they’ve occurred. Because Node.js uses event-driven programming, it results in very fast applications.
Event-driven applications work with a loop that listens for events and then triggers a callback function when an event is detected. In fact, everything that happens in Node is a reaction to an event. With event-driven programming, the amount of resources used is considerably less than traditional development, so you can get more (data processing) from less (server hardware).
What’s really important for you to understand is that Node.js allows the execution of JavaScript code outside of the web browser. This execution can happen on a server or on a desktop client. This makes Node.js pretty flexible.
Common uses for Node.js include:
One of the biggest reasons why you should choose Node.js for your projects is because it allows you to adopt a “JavaScript everywhere” approach to development. In other words, you can use it to work on the front and back ends of your projects. That turns it into a serious candidate for all your web development projects or, basically, for any JavaScript development project.
That, however, is only one of the many reasons why you should choose Node.js for your project. Other main advantages of this runtime environment include:
Any developer with JavaScript experience can pick Node.js and get it to work in no time. That’s because this tool is intuitive and fairly straightforward.
Probably the most well-known benefit of Node.js is how easily you can scale the apps you build with it. That’s because it works perfectly in systems based on microservices and containerization, which paves the way for flexible and growable software.
Since Node.js provides the possibility of going full-stack JavaScript development on your projects, you can count on the applications you build to be robust and have more cohesion and streamlined logic. That, in turn, leads to increased speed and efficiency.
Given its popularity and usefulness, Node.js has a strong community supporting it, which means that you’ll always find packages, documentation, suggestions, tools, and other resources to boost your team.
There are, however, some drawbacks to using Node JS:
In some cases, it may be better to leverage alternative frameworks, libraries, or tools, such as Angular, React, or ASP.NET. Some developers may even opt to use alternative languages in place of JavaScript.
The list of companies that use Node.js should open your eyes as to what this runtime engine is capable of. The list includes the likes of:
But why should your company be using Node.js? Let’s take a look at a few reasons.
If you have a digital project before you which can be solved with JavaScript, then you need to consider Node.js. This runtime environment provides you with the possibility to tackle the entire project with a single programming language, streamlining the whole process. What’s more, Node.js has intrinsic capabilities that will help you create robust, secure, fast, and scalable solutions.
Naturally, you need to know how to properly leverage everything that Node.js has to offer to achieve those benefits.
When you outsource NodeJS development, you are entrusting an external partner with your project. There are several models to choose from. For example, you make have Node experts join your team, working side by side with your in-house team members, or you could fully outsource the project, such that the partner company completes the project from start to finish.
It’s possible to hire Node JS developers on a full-time basis, although you would be hiring JavaScript developers who use the runtime environment to extend the capabilities of the language.
NodeJS is used to create myriad applications: event-driven, backend, desktop, data-intensive, and single-page applications, to name a few.
Famous NodeJS apps include eBay, GoDaddy, Groupon, LinkedIn, Mozilla, NASA, PayPal, Trello, and Uber.
Node is a runtime environment used for building server-side applications using JavaScript, while Express is a framework based on Node, through which the developer can use Node features and principles to create web applications.
