Introduction to Node.js
Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform, back-end JavaScript runtime environment that runs on the V8 engine and executes JavaScript code outside a web browser. Node.js was written initially by Ryan Dahl in 2009. The initial release supported only Linux and Mac OS X. Dahl criticized the limited possibilities of the most popular web server in 2009, Apache HTTP Server, to handle a lot of concurrent connections (up to 10,000 and more) and the most common way of creating code (sequential programming) when code either blocked the entire process, or implied multiple execution stacks in the case of simultaneous connections.
In January 2010, a package manager was introduced for the Node.js environment called npm. The package manager makes it easier for programmers to publish and share the source code of Node.js packages and is designed to simplify the installation, updating, and uninstallation of packages. The first Node.js build supporting Windows was released in July 2011.
Node.js allows the creation of Web servers and networking tools using JavaScript and a collection of “modules” that handle various core functionalities. Modules are provided for file system I/O, networking (DNS, HTTP, TCP, TLS/SSL, or UDP), binary data (buffers), cryptography functions, data streams, and other core functions. JavaScript is the only language that Node.js supports natively, but many compile-to-JS languages are available. As a result, Node.js applications can be written in CoffeeScript, Dart, TypeScript, ClojureScript, and others.
Why Node.js is so popular?
Truth be told, Node.js has been around for a long time. There was a point in time where working with Java was overwhelming and a distinct advantage. Around then, web compartments were everybody’s bane, your necessities were self-facilitated, and your working assemble could have been Maven or Ant.
At that point, with the emerge of Node.js, true salvation happened. It empowered you to run your server, which would start immediately. It majorly simplified interfaces, generics, and other ‘complex’ JVM conditions.
Nowadays, Node.js is in the range of the top 10 Backend Programming Languages. Furthermore, it relishes an energetic network with open-source libraries for practically anything, and it keeps running on numerous stages like Windows, Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X.
Here are some of the main reasons why you should start learning Node.js:
● Very Easy to Learn
Node.js is written in JavaScript, which as everybody knows, is one of the most prominent and wide-reaching for programming dialects. Along these lines, regardless of whether you’re a more secondary JavaScript designer, it will take you less time and exertion to boost it up.
● Used for Full Stack Development
Node.js is the perfect solution for full-stack web development, which indicates that developers deal with all parts of the program, front-end, back-end, and database organization.
Easy to compose JavaScript on both client and server-side
This is important because it means teams can work much more efficiently together. Using different languages for backend and frontend is typically a major source of friction. Unless you have good polyglot developers, a team can be restricted in this case, while tooling can also be more inflexible. If you’re using JavaScript across the stack, it’s easier to use a consistent toolchain.
● Versatility
Versatility is the one thing that makes Node.js so well known. Node.js runs everything in a solitary string. This single string is occasion-driven (due to JavaScript being the composing language). It is also non-blocking.
● Create amazing applications without composing complex code
This is a direct result of 2 significant things – Node.js’ offbeat-driven design, and the way that it utilizes the V8 JavaScript motor. The essentialness of this is V8, perhaps the quickest usage of JavaScript, used for the purpose of controlling a large number of Google’s gigantically famous in-program items.
● Biggest Community Support
As referenced above, Node.js is an open-source structure with a functioning worldwide network, loaded with eager software engineers who consistently contribute to its improvement. This doesn’t indicate that it will make you feel necessarily included, however, it makes learning simpler and more engaging.
● Appropriate to Building Microservices
Microservices have turned into a quickly developing design style that offers expanded dexterity and adaptability, over the customary stone monument. The benefits of microservices are reported in detail, and whether they’re presented to you directly, at the same time, they will command the product scene.
Some motivational quotes to encourage you to learn Node.js:
– MEAN stands for MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS, and Node.js. Many industry experts believe the MEAN stack will be a dominant web development platform in the coming years.
– Reusability is key in reducing bugs and coding quickly. The more I operate with codes, the more confident and familiar I become, which in turn significantly speeds up my development time.
– You perform for a different audience each time, so finding solutions to problems is an important factor. Monotony won’t be an issue for you.
– The possible solutions to a given problem emerge as leaves grow from a tree, each node representing a point of deliberation and decision.
– The type of librarians who are thriving most consistently in the digital era is those who have found a way to operate as a node, in a network of libraries and librarians. They are representatives of change, actively creating the future instead of constantly reacting to it.
