What Is Node.js? It’s Uses And Benefits

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Some companies that have implemented Node JS are Netflix, Amazon, Linkedin, Paypal, Reddit, eBay, Tumblr, and the like. You might be wondering why these gigantic organizations prefer Node.js among other technologies, mightn’t you? The biggest reason for that is the “futuristic” features (Amazon) and capability to reduce startup time (Netflix) of the Node.js.

These elephantine companies powered by Node.js invoke the trust among the upcoming and growing organizations to move ahead with Node.js. Do you have the same goal? If yes, then you should browse through this guide so that you can end up having complete knowledge about .Node.js.

Let’s read between the lines!

What’s Node js?

Node.js is a single-threaded, open-source Javascript runtime environment that enables you to create scalable web applications with convenience. It’s developed on the top of Google Chrome’s JavaScript Engine V8. The environment makes use of an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it way more efficient for data-intensive real-time apps functioning on shared devices. Before moving any further, have a look at the pointers below to know the facts:

Now that we know the basics and what’s Node.JS, it’s time to explore the advantages of node js. However, given below are some of them; in case you want to explore more about the benefits of Node.js, you can explore our recently published guide ASP .NET vs Node JS to accumulate intensive information.

Excellent Performance

The next level of performance is one of the prominent benefits of Node.js. V8 JS engine simply acts in accordance with the Javascript code in the machine code. It makes Node.js a resource-efficient technology along with streamlining the speed of the framework. Apart from these, Google makes a considerable investment in the search engine, intending to enhance its performance.

Single Programming Language

Node.js provides a perfect blend of similar language for both backend and frontend that’s way more flexible and accessible than it may sound. The technology makes the whole web application development cycle seamless and robust not only for developers but also for businesses. It helps you save time, energy, and other resources, making the investment more beneficial and productive.

Cross-Platform App Development

The feasibility of creating a Cross-platform application is another benefit of using Node.js. If you use Node.js, you should feel free to create cross-platform applications. Since it’s compatible with mobile, web, and desktop development for platforms like Windows, Mac, and Linux, you, with the help of NW.js and Electron, will be able to build cross-platform applications. Furthermore, Node.js is now widely accepted for the IoT solutions, too. If you’re looking to speed up your team’s coding efficiency and performance, you should think of employing Node.js.

Streamlined Development

Rapid development is another benefit of using Node.js. It, with its varied and lightweight tools, allows you the competencies to streamline web development procedures. The NPM (Node Package Manager) registry provides several libraries, modules, and solutions to build web applications by acquiring values while putting in less effort. With NPM libraries, Node.js assists you in lessening bugs and mitigating the size of your web apps with the help of its reusable templates. It all directly influences the time to bootstrap market your application.

Next-Level of Scalability

Scalability is one of the advantages of node js. Applications built using Node.js are easily scalable both horizontally and vertically. While horizontal scaling enables you to add new nodes timelessly, with vertical scaling, you can add additional resources to the new nodes. Apart from that, the Node.js apps don’t require a large block in the entire development procedure because they work with a set of modules and microservices. It’s easy, simple, and usable for startups that are on the lookout for growth.

Wider Community Support

Wider community support is one of the advantages of node js for your projects. Launched back to the year 2015, Node.js has a large number of software developers and a wide number of active Node.js fans continuously contributing to assist fellow developers. Moreover, Node.js has support on Github, making it convenient and fast to build and support the framework.

What Can Node.js Be Used For?

If you build node js app they’re more likely to give you an edge over your competition. It can be used for a variety of software development needs, which include:

Examples of Well-Known Organizations Making Use of Node.js

After knowing most of the facts, like what node.js is, the benefits of Node.js, and the use cases of node.js, we should move ahead to disclose the names of organizations using node js web development services for their software creation. Here are some of the companies using Node.js:

Linkedin

LinkedIn had around 63 million members in the year 2016. 59% of those members interacted using their mobile applications. Intended to handle this increasing number of users, LinkedIn selected to employ Node.js. That proved to be the right decision for the company–as it helped it to accelerate performance to a massive extent, and in some cases, around 20x.

Uber

Another one of the users of Node.js is Uber. The company needed a high-performance, cross-platform application with scalable competencies to manage its wide number of bookings. Furthermore, the very firm required a tech solution that’s competent to match various riders to their drivers in a matter of a few seconds.

Netflix

Netflix, with its more than 130 million subscribers and around a billion hours of weekly data streaming, was on the lookout for a scalable system that could enable it to handle various requests synchronously. The company decided to choose Node.js so that they could make use of a single language for both the backend and frontend. Besides, they created an SPA that mitigated the startup time, resulting in an overall reduction of startup time (from 40 minutes to under 60 seconds).

Certain Circumstances Where Node js Development Services Wouldn’t Be Appropriate

We discussed various pluses and benefits of using Node.js, but nothing has only benefits, and Node.js, too, isn’t an exception. Similar to other technologies, Node.js also has some negative aspects. In case you’re up to developing the following applications, you should think once more before you decide to leverage node js development services.

Heavy Server-Side Processing

When it comes to heavy server-side computation, Node.js shouldn’t be the right choice just because of its event-driven and non-blocking I/O node models. It tends to block incoming requests while those threads get busy computing numbers.

Server-side web App With a Relational Database on the Backend

You can create a vanilla web application on the server side using Node. Js–express.Js. But keep in mind that if these applications have any heavy CPU-intensive computation, it’ll be likely to block Node.js responsiveness. Because the Relational Database tool offered by Node.js is still underdeveloped, you should opt to pick up another environment for conducting relational operations.

CPU Intensive Computations

As Node.js is single-threaded, there’s a possibility that it won’t work for your web application. In case you have a heavy computation that has to be processed by the server, it tends to block universally.

Imperfection In Tools

Node.js has been proven to be a quality solution for high-performance projects. In spite of having the privilege of a large pool of efficient and talented Node.js developers community contributing to NPM libraries and models, some developers have raised the issue of poor quality, buggy apps with incomplete modules, and some others, like lack of documentation. But if you’ve expert-level Node.js developers, you should be sure to pick the right NPM modules and libraries to serve the purpose of your project.

Signing Off….!

You may or may not know that the majority of companies make use of node js for app development. You’re thinking about the reasons for the same, aren’t you? The reason making the very technology that popular is its being fast, lightweight, and scalable. Besides, the JavaScript runtime developed on V8 is also efficient when it comes to handling various requests at once. However, there are some exceptions; if you’re thinking about creating a web application that’s high-performance, cross-platform, with the capability to be scalable, Node.js should be the right choice.