Node.js is an open-source server environment. Node.js is cross-platform and runs on Windows, Linux, Unix, and macOS. Node.js is a back-end JavaScript runtime environment. Node.js runs on the V8 JavaScript Engine and executes JavaScript code outside a web browser.
JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages in the world. It powers millions of websites today, and it has attracted droves of developers and designers to build features for the web. If you’re new to programming, JavaScript is easily one of the best programming languages to get under your belt.
A common misconception among developers is that Node.js is a backend framework and is only used for building servers. This isn’t true: Node.js can be used both on the frontend and the backend.
One of the reasons Node.js frameworks are a popular choice for developers building a flexible and scalable backend is its event-driven, non-blocking nature. However, frontend developers will see these benefits of Node.js in their own work just as clearly.
Let’s take a look at why Node.js works for both backend and frontend:
Reusability – JavaScript is a common language that’s used to write both backend and frontend with the help of frameworks like Express.js and Meteor.js. Some popular stacks like MERN use Express.js as a backend (a Node.js framework). Multiple components can be reused between frontend and backend as well. Productivity and developer efficiency – Thanks to a reduction in context-switching between multiple languages, a great deal of developer time can be saved. Using JavaScript for both backend and frontend results in increased efficiency, as many tools are common for both. Huge community – A thriving online community factors into the speed of a successful development cycle. When you get stuck on a problem, there’s a good chance that someone’s already solved it and shared the solution on Stack Overflow. Node.js makes great use of this community, which is active and engaged when it comes to the popular runtime and its packages.
Node.js brings event-driven programming to web servers, enabling development of fast web servers in JavaScript. Developers can create scalable servers without using threading, by using a simplified model of event-driven programming that uses callbacks to signal the completion of a task. Node.js connects the ease of a scripting language (JavaScript) with the power of Unix network programming.