Quick Summary - If your next development project involves providing real-time data to a huge number of simultaneous users, you’ll want to know about Node.js.
Here, we take a look at what Node.js is, where it works best, examples of where it’s being put to use, and vital considerations for your Node.js development team.
8 mins read
July 26, 2021
Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform, back-end runtime environment (RTE) based on the V8 JavaScript Engine. Applications written for Node.js are written in JavaScript – the most popular and most in-demand programming language globally. Statista estimates that over half of developers are using Node.js
Source: Statista
Node.js is an excellent option for fast, scalable network applications that don’t require heavy CPU support. Though this may limit its suitability for some software, it’s arguably best-in-class for website applications and making use of real-time data (see below for strengths and weaknesses).
One major advantage for using Node.js is that JavaScript is a full-stack programming language. This reduces developer requirements to a single language for server-side and client-side scripts. Most software projects have tech stacks requiring two, sometimes up to four, different programming languages for their databases, front-end and back-end.
Not much creativity went into naming this framework as the core feature of Node.js is its use of “nodes” for creating software with loosely coupled features and functions – avoiding things like spaghetti code and helping maintain low code complexity. Low code complexity makes it easier and faster for developers to read code (which they will be doing often) and to debug code that is already likely to have a relatively low defect rate. This makes it easier and less expensive to maintain.
Node.js can support a tremendous number of simultaneous users (high peak load) while maintaining a high performance and stability. Each user can run multiple tasks concurrently (like uploading/downloading multiple files) without overloading the server. Node.js is particularly useful for apps involving real-time data, but not for CPU intensive tasks.
“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes… you get what you need.” Yeah, so, Node.js has some limitations and things it’s not at all suited for. Its core weakness is the ability to handle CPU-intensive tasks – limiting its usefulness for computing and relational databases. That covers a lot of software right off the bat, suffixe that it’s appropriate to be aware of a few more issues about Node.js:
Literally millions of websites worldwide make use of Node.js, from startups to tech giants. Some of the major names of companies you’ll easily recognize include:
If you decide that you want your software to use JavaScript and Node.js, you also want developers experienced in using suitable frameworks. There are at a least a couple dozen Node.js frameworks that you can use, each with its particular strengths. The following are just five of the most popular Node.js frameworks so it may be necessary to dig deeper for the best fit to the software you intend to develop.
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Other languages used in addition to Node.js: Again, when developing for Node.js, it’s entirely possible to rely solely upon JavaScript. Developers have also used it in conjunction with Python, Java, PHP, .Net, C++ and C, Go, Ruby, and Swit.
Best databases for use with Node.js: JSON files, Mongo DB, MYSQL, Redis, PostgreSQL
Load balancing tools for use with Node.js: Nginx, Pm2, Apache HTTP, HA Proxy
Containers/Cloud: Docker, AWS Lambda, Kubernetes, Google Cloud, MS Azure
Continuous Integration tools: Jenkins, Travis, Circle CI
Messaging Systems: RabbitMQ, ZeroMQ, some have also tried NSQ and ActiveMQ
Beyond reducing development costs by being able to rely solely on JavaScript, roughly two-thirds of developers indicate that it has enabled them to be more productive. At the same time, more than 6 in 10 developers using Node.js indicate an increase in their job satisfaction. Roughly half indicate that they’ve experienced an increase in application performance, as well.
Most developers (3 of 4) using Node.js focus on back-end or full-stack development. This remains fairly consistent in all regions internationally. Both back-end and full-stack developers have the most experience (time and frequency of use) with Node.js.
Source: Nodejs.org
Developers deploy Node.js across a variety of platforms, though AWS dominates:
Source: Nodejs.org
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