Node.js

Founded by Ryan Dahl in 2009

Run JavaScript outside the browser to build web servers and backend applications

Pricing model

Free

Rating

★ Highly Positive

Time to value

Immediate

You can use Node.js to run JavaScript outside web browsers to build scalable network applications and backend services. It lets you create custom HTTP web servers, execute file system operations, and manage asynchronous data streams. You can also write automated test suites, build command-line utilities, and handle multithreaded tasks using native worker threads. Because it executes JavaScript directly on your server or local environment, you can share code between client and server architectures efficiently across different operating systems without needing separate languages.

What Node.js does

Create an HTTP server to process web requestsRun automated tests with built-in test runnersHash files securely using crypto librariesStream and compress data payloadsSpawn worker threads for CPU-intensive computationsRead and write files directly from the local diskExecute JavaScript scripts outside the browserBuilt-in HTTP server creation for serving web trafficNative test runner module for executing unit testsAsynchronous file system streaming and compression pipelinesBuilt-in cryptographic hashing and cipher utilitiesWorker threads support for parallel compute-heavy tasksCross-platform execution across Linux, macOS, and Windows