What is Node.js?

Node.js is a cross-platform open-source back-end JavaScript runtime environment that executes JavaScript code outside of a web browser using the V8 engine. It is mostly used for event-driven servers such as ordinary websites and back-end API services. In simple terms, Node.js runs full websites on a single "stack," allowing you to focus on the project's business objectives rather than development and maintenance.

Though a key aspect to remember about Node.js is that it is a runtime environment, not a framework or library, as is the case with traditional application software. A runtime environment (RTE) is a set of Web APIs that a developer can use to write code, and a JavaScript engine to read it. This makes it lightweight, adaptable, and simple to deploy, all of which will help you optimize and speed up your application development project.

Besides, note that Node.js is free and it is constantly improved by a global developer community since it is open-source.

The Basic Architecture of Node.js

Node.js is popular among programmers due to its architecture. Unlike most other runtime environments that run on multi-threaded processing, Node.js works on a single thread.

Each server in a multi-threaded processing configuration has a thread pool that it can access. Therefore, whenever a server receives a request, it chooses a thread from the pool and assigns it to the request for processing. In this scenario, the processing is synchronous and sequential, which means that only one operation is performed at a time.

When using multiple-thread processing, a thread is assigned to each request until all threads have been utilized. When this occurs, the server must wait for a thread that has become unavailable to become available again. This could lead to slow and inefficient apps, which can have a negative impact on everything from customer experience to lead conversions. It's especially complicated if your application has to process a big number of client requests at the same time.

In contrast, Node.js runs on a single thread. The difference between the two is that single-thread systems are likely to use event loops to do non-blocking Input/Output activities. The principle of a single-thread design is that it can run and grow faster and more effectively than multiple-thread designs. Ryan Dahl had this in mind when he designed Node.js, and it's one of the reasons why it's so popular among web application developers.

Examples of Node.js Usage in Application Development

Here are some of the most well-known examples of applications that use Node.js for their development.

NASA

In this case, Node.js is crucial because it saves lives by keeping astronauts safe during risky space flights. NASA had to find a way to unify data linked to EVA spacesuits into a single cloud database to minimize access times. They needed to do that after a near-fatal mishap caused by inefficient data stored in many locations. The new Node.js-based system cut the process's number of steps from 28 to 7.

Walmart

Walmart is the world's largest retailer, and it's getting into the online shopping game. The organization decided to join the Node.js bandwagon to re-engineer its mobile app. They wanted to include more complex functionality. Node.js was praised by Walmart for its asynchronous I/O and single-threaded event loop architectures, which enabled it to handle several inquiries at the same time.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn, the world's largest business and employment-oriented social networking site migrated its mobile app from Ruby on Rails to Node.js. It turned out to be a sensible idea, despite the fact that it was still a rather immature runtime environment at the time. The new software was 2-10 times faster than the old one and was also much lighter. In addition, the development time was really short.

Netflix

Probably everybody knows what Netflix is. Though not everyone might know that it's a data-driven platform that does rigorous A/B testing to give its 195 million+ global users a rich experience. The enormous number of unique packages released each push cycle adds to the complexity of conditional dependencies and app scalability. Therefore, the company chose Node.js, which is light and fast. A 70% reduction in loading time was one of the most significant outcomes of choosing Node.js.