Today there are so many languages, frameworks, tools and environments being used in programming and coding industry.
From JavaScript, Python, C++ to environments like Flash or Java, all of them are created to make web development or using different languages easier.
But what do you know about each one and the popular runtime environments being used for each languages?
One of the most popular runtime environments which has made making use of JavaScript much easier, is called Node.js runtime environment.
In this article, we are going to check out what is node.js, how does it work and what is it used for.
Do not you know if node.js is a framework, programming language or a platform? Believe it or not, none are correct. Below, we have given a detailed explanation on these questions.
What is node.js in simple words ?
Most of the people tend to confuse node.js with other programming languages or different platforms in this field.
The truth is, node.js counts as a runtime environment for JavaScript. It executes JavaScript code outside the browser. But you may ask what runtime environment is?
As you might know, all of the programming languages need to run the language, understand the code and process all of the instructions written by programmer. It may be interesting to know that languages like Ruby, Python, Java and every other language in the world got its own runtime environment.
Surprisingly, once a time Java was the most popular language all over the world, but did not have any runtime environment which ran on the computer.
In fact, there was only one possibility when working with JavaScript and that was running on the browser. Because the browser was the only software which was able to process the JavaScript code.
Exactly here, when programmers and developers where busy dealing with this problem, comes node.js runtime environment.
What is node.js used for ?
The main role of node.js is to run JS code on the machine. Node.js removed the limitation of running JS just on the browser and now it can be easily installed on any machine, from Linux, to a Mac, and Windows and other machines.
This open-source, cross-platform tool counts as a popular and lightweight web framework which is one of the best options for beginners. It is also being used by so many popular, big companies as Uber and Netflix.
The best answer to the question what is advantage of node.js, is that without node.js it is impossible for JavaScript to run outside of a browser.
When you as a programmer or developer write a data base and the backend server, it would be the best to use node.js to run your code as a standalone application. Without making use of this popular runtime, your code would be something that can only be assessed in browser.
In other word, node.js runtime environment can be used in data-intensive applications, as streaming and real-time apps, and works as a great solution. You should be aware that when we say usingnode.js provides us with using JS everywhere, we mean the front-end, the middle-end and the back-end.
Therefore, node.js counts as the important part of web development stacks, as the MERN stack, MEVN stack and the MEAN stack.
Wherenode.js can be used ?
Now we have found out what node.js is and how does it work. But for a better understanding, we are going to mention a few examples of where node.js can be used.
Chat
The first and maybe the most practical application of node.js runtime environment, is chat.
Chat is a real-time, multi-user application and a really sweet- example for node.js: it counts as a high traffic, lightweight and data intensive process which across multiple devices. This is also worth mentioning that despite all its advantages, it is kind of processing.
Proxy
The other main application of node.js runtime environment, is proxy. Node.js can be easily used as a server-side proxy and therefore, handle a huge amount of simultaneous connections in a non-blocking manner.
It is also useful when we want to proxy different servers with different response times.
Application monitoring dashboard
The third common application we are going to mention about node.js, is the ability to track website visitors and visualize their actions.
To achieve that, you could open a communication channel for visitors when they reach a certain point in your funnel, and then introduce targeted interactions to them or gather real-time information and stats about users.
To make the best use of this function, picture if you knew what exactly your users and visitors were doing in real-time, how could you upgrade and enhance your business. Good news is that currently, thanks to the real-time sockets of node.js runtime environment, you are able to do that.
What is special about node.js ?
As we mentioned earlier, node.js has been made to help JS code to run in others machines, rather than just a browser. But you may ask was this the first attempt to make JavaScript run on other devices? If no, why do not we have any other runtime environment available?
The answer is simple: node.js is no first attempt and there have been other ones too. But the reason that node.js was successful to take off, is node.js runtime environment and the type of techniques it employs in processing the JS code, is more efficient and extremely fast compare to the other unsuccessful runtime environment.
Below, we have mentioned other reason fornode.js being the best attempt among others.
·Asynchronous (non-blocking): using this methodology, you can maximize the utilization of the processor. It is also more efficient and cheaper comparing to computer processor.
·Event driven (event loop), Single- Threaded: by this we mean that JS needs user interactions or events to run successfully and most of the time, the code is run synchronously.
·Node.js is free.
·Node.js runs on various platforms.
·Node.js is built on V8 JavaScript Engine which makes it one of the fastest code execution libraries.
·Node.js is often used and is the best suited for asynchronous programming.
·Node.js is too easy to learn for beginners, because it is pure JS and its basics are as simple as possible.
·Node.js is not recommended and suited for big projects, because it comes without clean coding.
·If you are dealing with real-time web applications, node.js runtime environment is the ideal platform you could be using.
·If your main focus is on website development, node.js is a better option for you comparing to other platforms.
·This runtime environment provides completely scalable and fast services.
What can node.js do ?
Another important question which may come to your mind, is what processes node.js is allowed to run in our device?
The main 4 actions this runtime environment is allowed to take in our machine, are listed below:
·Node.js is allowed to create dynamic page content
·Node.js can add, delete and modify data existing in your database.
·Node.js is able to collect from data
·Node.js can create, open, read, delete, write and choose on the server
Fundamentals of node.js
Now that we know what node.js run time environment is and how does it work, it would be best to know fundamentals ofnode.js. Below, we have explored some of the most important fundamentals of this tool.
Console
The first fundamental to explore, is the console. The console counts as a module provided by node.js and it is dependent on JS console in the browser. This console provides us with different methods that are used for debugging occasions.
Buffer
The Buffer class counts as the core ofnode.js and is a temporary storage in file systems. An important note to be aware of, is that Buffer is rarely used directly by web developers, because it is has a low-level nature.
In fact, the most important purpose of Buffer class is assigning memory.
Filesystem
Another important fundamental in node.js is file system (fs) module. These modules provide us with the possibility of interacting with files in node.js runtime environment.
Furthermore, for reading or writing to a file, we can make use of synchronous and asynchronous method, using fs module.
One of the major differences between filesystem and Buffer class or console, is that you have to import fs modules intothe file of which you are going you make use to get your work done.
As you see, there are so many different, challenging concepts and notions on which a professional developer must have an advanced understanding.
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Reasons to use node.js
In the last part of this article, we are going to mention some of the main advantages of node.js runtime environment which make us use this tool.
Of course, above we explained a few benefits which come with this tool, but below we have listed them more coherent:
·Fast suit
·Easy to learn and code
·Benefit of caching a single module
·Data screaming
·PaaS and Heroku are hosting node.js application
·Corporate support
Conclusion
All in all, node.js runtime environment comes with a large amount of advantages with which developers are able to work efficiently.
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