What is Node.js Exactly?
A brief history of Node.js
Ryan Dahl developed the first version of Node.js in 2009. Only Linux and Mac OS X were supported in the initial release. Dahl was in charge of its creation and upkeep, and Joyent Inc. eventually supported it. The aim of Node was to create real-time websites with push capabilities (WebSockets).
What is Node js?
Node js, sometimes known as Node, is a cross-platform open-source, event-driven runtime environment for executing JavaScript code outside of a browser, based on Google’s V8 JavaScript engine. Node js embraces asynchronous non-blocking & single-threaded architecture. It is not a programming language but rather a runtime that allows you to run JavaScript on a Server. We often use Node to build back-end services also called Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Node is ideal for creating back-end services that are highly scalable, data-intensive, and real-time.
Before 2009, the only method to run JavaScript code was through the JavaScript engine of a web browser.Many JavaScript engines are available in web browsers, such as the V8 engine in Google Chrome and the Chakra engine in Microsoft Edge. Ryan Dahl invented Node.js in 2009 by incorporating Google Chrome’s V8 into a C++ program.
What is special about Node js?
- Great for prototyping & agile development
- Super fast & highly scalable
- JavaScript everywhere
- Cleaner & more consistent codebase
- Large ecosystem of open-source libraries.
Indeed, PayPal rebuilt one of their Java and Spring-based applications using node and discovered that the node applications were,
- built twice as fast with fewer people,
- 33% fewer lines of code,
- 40% fewer files,
- double number of request per second,
- 35% faster responce time.
Node.js can be downloaded from its official website https://nodejs.org/en/, and it is advised that you obtain the newest stable version rather than the current version because the current version of node.js offers new futures but may contain flaws. To find out the version of node.js your PC or Mac has, run node — version into your command prompt or terminal. This will show you the current version of node.js on your computer.
C:\>node — version
v14.15.4
For coding, you can use Web Storm, Visual Studio Code, or any other chosen code editor. Code execution can be done in cmd or terminal by running node filename.js.
