Node.js is a JavaScript environment that allows you to perform a multitude of tasks and build all sorts of exciting applications.

Node.js can be defined as a dynamic, cross-platform and open-source JavaScript framework or runtime environment that is built on the Google Chrome JavaScript V8 engine. Developed by Ryan Dahl in 2009, Node.js was initially implemented as a client-side scripting language. Nowadays, it is used to execute JavaScript code and scripts that run server-side to create dynamic web pages.

Node.js is an open source server environment and essentially allows you to run JavaScript on the server. In summary, Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform, JavaScript runtime environment that provides way to run JavaScript code outside of a web browser. Node.js helps us to use JavaScript for server-side scripting—running scripts server-side to produce dynamic web page content before the page is sent to the user’s web browser.

Node.js Features and Benefits

Most web developers implement Node.js due to its amazing and powerful features. Key features of Node.js include:

• Faster code execution

• Highly scalable

• Non-blocking APIs

• No buffering

   

With such wonderful features, Node.js is widely used for creating server-side and networking applications. The following are the key areas where Node.js is widely used:

• I/O-bound applications

• Data streaming applications

• Data-intensive real-time applications (DIRT)

• JSON API-based applications

• Single-page applications

Most of the top organizations use Node.js for e.g. IBM, Apple, AT&T, and the like.