Node.js and Enterprise Web Apps: Know It All

Node.js is ubiquitous in today’s digital world and it is almost impossible to have not heard about it. Almost every business is building their user-focused and scalable web application using Node.js and the job market reflects the same picture with tons of job openings every day for the same.

So ever wondered what is Node.js and why it is so popular to build enterprise web apps? Let’s dive in to find out.

What is Node.js?

Source: https://github.com/nodejs/node

Before we start to understand Node.js, let’s take a look at JavaScript (JS). JS frameworks and libraries that have been used to build interactive interfaces, that is the front-end code for many years but only recently did it venture into backend platform or server-side with Node.js.

Node.js was developed by Ryan Dahl in 2009. It is basically the JavaScript runtime environment using which we can execute JavaScript code outside of a browser while building web applications. It is built on Google Chrome's JavaScript Engine (V8 Engine).

The definition of Node.js as supplied by its official documentation is as follows −

Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast and scalable network applications. Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient, perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.

How does Node.js work?

One of the most important features of Node.js is that it is asynchronous. For example, when in a Node.js web app when a file system is reading a file, the server does not stay idle and in turn handles other requests. When the file system is done reading the files, it informs the server so that it can serve the files to the client. This is asynchronous behaviour is accomplished through event loops in Node.js.

Event loops are programs that wait for events and dispatch them when they occur. So, Node.js is mainly JavaScript and event loops! Just like JavaScript, Node.js is also single-threaded. Because of the asynchronous nature of JavaScript, the applications using node can handle many requests happening at the same time.

Source: https://webapplog.com/event-loop/

Which major companies use Node.js?

Various well-known companies like Netflix, NASA, Uber, LinkedIn, Uber, Medium, PayPal, etc. have used Node.js as their main technologies.

Why should we use Node.js for enterprise web apps?

Listed below are the reasons why Node.js is exceedingly popular:

1) Microservices-based Architecture

As enterprise webapps always first start with an MVP and then features are added on the way, Node.js makes it easier to decouple the modules and troubleshoot issues. For example, if we need to modify only a small section of code in a large codebase, with Nodejs we don’t have to deploy all the code again.

2) Regular Maintenance and Updating of Codebase

As Node.js is a microservices based, it makes it really easy to regularly maintain and update the codebase based on ever changing client requirements.

3) Increased Performance and Productivity

Node.js is asynchronous, which means it will carry on with the next process instead of waiting on if the hardware is currently busy. This increases the performance of Node.js because it can be used with minimal hardware.

4) All-in-one Package Manager for all Project Dependencies

The NPM (Node Package Manager) consists of tons of modules that help developers using them and not write common features from scratch every time.

5) No learning curves

Node.js as mentioned above is based on JavaScript, and the syntax is very similar and beginner- friendly.

6) LTS (Long Term Support)

Even though Node.js is only 10 years old, it still provided Long Term Support which is important as enterprises are relying it on building their applications.

Conclusion-

Ever since it was released in 2009, Node.js has been used extensively as a backend to build web applications. Its architecture of asynchronous input/output increases its performance and as it is based on JavaScript, makes it developer friendly. Using it, we can serve more clients in less time with either the same or fewer resources as compared to a traditional Java-based application.

Node.js is sure to grow even more in the coming years and it will be really exciting to witness it.

Also, According to the poll conducted by Fibonalabs, Nodejs is popular among enterprises due to the Node Package Manager and its architectural approach and scalability.

So, have you started building with Node.js yet? Share your views and stay tuned with us for more interesting updates.