This article was originally published at: https://www.blog.duomly.com/why-use-node-js/
Node.js is a powerful JavaScript-based runtime environment that provides the server-side for web applications. It was designed with scalability and performance in mind, making node an ideal solution for high-traffic websites or any other type of application where speed is desired.
In this blog post, we'll look at what node js offers to help make your site faster, more robust, and easier to maintain.
1. What is node.js, and what are its key features?
Node.js is an open-source runtime environment that was first released in 2009. Early node users include corporations like IBM, PayPal, and Microsoft, who use node for its speed and scalability capabilities. Node allows you to write JavaScript on the server-side and on the client-side, so node developers are typically well versed in both sides, making transitioning between client and server environments relatively easy.
The node framework is built on top of Google's V8 JavaScript engine built for the Chrome web browser. This allows node to take advantage of all of V8's debugging tools, performance enhancements, and support libraries to create high-performing applications without dealing with many of the common issues faced by other programming languages. It also makes node very beginner-friendly as JavaScript is a widely-used programming language.
2. How node js can help improve your website's speed and performance
One of the node's most powerful features is using non-blocking, asynchronous functions. Blocking occurs when a function must wait for another function or set of instructions to finish before processing. Node is designed around allowing your application to run as many tasks simultaneously as possible without having anyone task block others from running.
This also makes node ideal for real-time applications like chat servers and multiplayer games where data needs to be delivered quickly but concurrently.
Node also offers high scalability capabilities through an event loop which allows node to handle thousands or even millions of concurrent connections with relative ease. Each connection runs in its own thread that allows node to perform other functions. In contrast, older connections are not being serviced, so the node can handle many requests without tying up your system's resources.
Node js is a great solution for handling high traffic websites
Many node users have found that node is the best way to handle websites with high traffic without sacrificing performance or accuracy. Unlike Apache, node.js can quickly adapt to sudden increases in web traffic by spawning additional threads (event loops). Each thread runs in parallel on its own CPU core, allowing node to make optimal use of all available CPU cores instead of relying on fewer, more powerful cores like some other server software programs do.
Node provides you with total control over your memory usage and scaling capabilities
Node doesn't use any sort of virtual machine which allows node applications and frameworks to run at near-native speed. This also means that node doesn't have to utilize any memory for processes or data, which gives node developers the ability to use as much of your system's resources as they need without worrying about consuming RAM.
Node allows developers greater control over resource allocation since it doesn't allocate resources for itself, leaving devs with total control over what resources their applications use.
Node's event-driven architecture makes it well suited for real-time applications
When you place an order on Amazon, read a status update on Facebook, or post something on Twitter, you're participating in a real-time application, whether you know it or not. Real-time applications have become increasingly popular, and Node.js is one of the few server-side frameworks that allow developers to create real-time applications without requiring additional plugins or libraries, helping node developers save valuable time and effort.
Node is great for creating real-time chat servers
Creating a chat server using Node.js is surprisingly simple since node makes it easy to use WebSockets, which provide low latency, full-duplex communications channels over a single TCP connection. Using node's EventEmitter class, you can easily send data to all connected clients with just one line of code. At the same time, Node.js also allows you to listen for events on other clients within the same file. With other popular languages like PHP and Java, this would require multiple files, which means having to switch back and forth between files to see what's happening everywhere instead of seeing it all in one file.
Node.js programming is free, and node users have total control over what they use node for
Unlike many other server-side frameworks, Node.js isn't reliant on a single corporation or company, so node developers don't have to wait years for features, optimizations, and security patches. This also means that node users will never have to pay license fees or upgrade versions to get the latest node versions since Node.js is open source. Node's MIT license allows node users complete freedom in using node.
3. Why node js is a good choice for businesses of all sizes
Node makes it possible to create highly scalable applications without writing complex, low-level code like you would with C++ or Java.
That allows users to focus on writing clean, efficient code instead of spending valuable development time chasing down bugs and memory leakages since node.js has an event-driven architecture that prevents much of this type of problem from happening in node apps.
Node allows developers greater control over resource allocation because it doesn't allocate resources for itself, leaving node devs with total control over what resources their application needs.
Node's non-blocking I/O model makes it easier to write scalable network programs than traditional servers like Apache and Nginx, and node applications can use node modules to easily input data from other sources like databases and file systems.
4. How to get started with node js
The node website has a great collection of tutorials that beginners can learn in just minutes.
If you're interested in learning more about node.js or need help getting started with node development, please don't hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to discuss your project and see how node js can help improve your website's performance and scalability.
5. The future of node js
Node.js is used by some of the world's biggest companies, including IBM, Microsoft, Yahoo, PayPal, and LinkedIn.
Node is also run on tens of thousands of sites across both small businesses like this one and large corporations like Groupon, Walmart, Netflix, AOL, and CapitalOne.
It's well-suited technology for all types of application development thanks to node's event-driven architecture, which makes node code more accessible to manage than traditional languages.
Node.js will likely continue to see adoption partly because users have complete control over what they use node for, so maintainers can focus on customizing node apps instead of worrying about license fees or upgrade versions.
For this reason, we don't expect to see node usage decline anytime soon since it uses an MIT License.
6. Why node js and not other languages like Ruby or PHP?
Node has been gaining popularity as more businesses realize the value of node's speed, scalability, and ease of use. The node learning curve isn't too steep for programmers already familiar with object-oriented languages, which means existing development teams won't need to spend months training new hires to speed on node development before they can start writing code.
The node framework also allows developers to write asynchronous code, making it easier to manage concurrency without relying on large threads that tie up memory resources. Since Node.js uses non-blocking IO, the server can handle multiple requests without waiting for each one to complete, which means Node.js can handle a much higher volume of web traffic than other more traditional languages.
If you're interested in learning more about node.js or need help getting started with node development, please don't hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to discuss your project and see how node js can help improve your website's performance and scalability.
Thank you for reading, \ Radek from Duomly