Node.js (Node) is an open-source JavaScript platform built on the Chrome V8 engine. It allows you to write server-side code for web applications and dynamic web pages, as well as command-line programs. The platform is based on an event-driven model with non-blocking I/O operations, making it efficient and lightweight.
Before Node.js, applications that were written in the JavaScript programming language could only be run in a browser. With the advent of the platform, it became possible to write in JavaScript not only in the browser, but also on the server.
The platform was developed by Ryan Dahl, a programmer from America, in 2009. It runs on the V8 engine, which translates JavaScript into machine code. In simple terms, Node.js is a C++ application that takes JavaScript code as input and executes it. To interact with input/output devices on the computer, the platform has its own C++ interface. Thus, the platform transforms the specialized JavaScript scripting language into a general-purpose language, so any computer program can be written in Node.js. Node.js allows you to use a single JavaScript language for writing code both on the client side (Frontend), and on the server (Backend). These features of Node.js are important for the development of real-time applications, which are based on events.
What Node.js is for
The platform is used by fronted developers, backend developers and others. It allows you to write a program for different operating systems: Linux, OS X and Windows, it can be used to create API. Also Node.js is used to develop cross-platform applications: for example, a list of tasks, which should work on different platforms, to synchronize data in real time and send to your mobile device. Node.js is used when creating services with the constant exchange of information with the user: social networks, online games, chat, systems of joint work on the project, online text editors, etc.
Node.js is at the core of the Internet of Things, or simply IoT. The platform helps manage devices and create servers that can simultaneously handle a large number of requests.
Many large companies use Node.js. For example, eBay and PayPal’s web version are in the process of transitioning, and LinkedIn, which completely abandoned Ruby on Rails in favor of Node.js back in 2012, claimed a 20-fold acceleration of 27 servers. Other notable companies include Yahoo, Netflix, Uber, Walmart, Google and many others.
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