Paul Whiteman said of jazz, that it “is the folk music of the machine age.” We can think of the rise of Node.JS in the same way - a grassroots variation that has been re-defining our modern, high-traffic net landscape over the last decade. Node.JS, (written in C++), can handle concurrent requests, the parallel execution of code, and is structured for scalability. The hallmarks of jazz are that it is flexible within its own framework, and can handle the integrations of many ‘voices’, or styles. The main difference is that we bet there may be more Node.JS fans out there than there are ardent jazz lovers.Why has Node.JS become the go-to for developing web applications?

Scalability and the Rise of Node.JS

It all started with scalability in 2009. Node.JS, created by Ryan Dahi, was designed to overcome issues with scalability and the execution of code in parallel that servers like Apache HTTP couldn’t handle. Node.JS is written in C++, translates to a variety of OS’s, is speedy, and built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript Engine. Frequent updating to both Node.JS and V8 make for a robust, high performance JavaScript runtime. V8 is Google’s JavaScript WebAssembly engine, also written in C++, and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux OS as a standalone engine or embedded into your applications. The use of JavaScript in both Node.JS and V8 equals the ability to transform JSON data quickly. You can start to see how scalability with Node.JS frameworks is a natural gift.

Popularity and the Rise of Node.JS

The internet was born in 1989. And JavaScript is it’s younger sibling by six years. Think about that and you’ll realize that JavaScript has been built into the infrastructure of all our online exchanges since the internet was knee-high to a proxy server. Being a JavaScript runtime, Node.JS comes with some definite advantages, some of our favorites in point of fact; easy to learn, works both with front and backend development, and has a following of curated libraries for Node.JS frameworks.Javascript runs both on the server and in-browser. This capability is a really recent development when you think about the full JavaScript timeline since the mid-90s. As the internet has matured, so has Javascript, and it’s left sandbox environments for open-source alternatives like Node.JS.

Node.JS and Backend Development

Let’s cut the cake before we serve it. Node.JS is not a meaty, object oriented programming language so it doesn’t have the computational prowess of a language like Python. Node.JS is event-driven and allows for the creation of data heavy, real-time web applications which can then be distributed across multiple devices. The Node.JS runtime environment allows developers to launch frontend and backend both using JavaScript - which a lot of developers want for javascripts ease-of-use and scalability; as well as for its responsiveness, and the ability to share code back and forth between the front and back end. All of these elements come together to work for the end goal which is meeting the increasing traffic and needs of satisfying the end user, while supporting businesses as they work to stay ahead of the curve.

Rise of the Node Community

It's interesting that Javascript based frameworks are now running many backends for businesses such as Netflix, Uber, and Trello. If we think about these businesses, scalability is an essential aspect of each of their business models. Node.JS has the open-source community that delivers on this need. It’s also better for the user experience.The scripting processes of Node.JS are all server side which makes loading times a lot faster because there’s not such a reliance on CPU usage. Server-side scripting lets your Dev team rely on the webserver instead of being bogged down by endless plugins.From a business and marketing perspective, Node.JS is appealing as this lightweight technology facilitates faster programming and deployment. If your projects are able to go from Dev to Production faster, your business stands to greatly benefit from expedited time-to-market.From GitHub, to Dev Communities, Node.JS has a very passionate following of both seasoned and up-and-coming developers; this reverts back partly to that ease-of-use element we mentioned. Javascript is one of the less complex languages to learn; couple that with the framework technology and Dev versatility of Node.JS and it’s safe to say the popularity of Node.JS will continue to rise.

A Community of Experts

Needs like scalability and topics like Node.JS frameworks are in our wheelhouse. As the internet landscape continues to expand, your business might need to add one or two new components. We’re here to help! Need a Node.JS Developer? Reach out today for an Assessment to discover what your business needs are for your next digital transformation - and how TECKpert can make it happen.