In developing websites, software, and applications the use of libraries and frameworks has contributed to enhancing efficiency and productivity in fast-paced environments. Web developers can access a variety of libraries and frameworks that are effectively organized by a platform designed to simplify their utilization.
These libraries have made it easier for web developers to perform less crucial tasks faster and more efficiently. Many functions in web development have packages or rely on external modules, an example would be “react-scroll" which enables smooth scrolling within a single-page application.
This platform/software is called Node.js, and it’s very popular in the JavaScript community. So, what is Node.js, and why is it important?
In this article, we’ll be breaking down what Node.js and node package manager entail and their usefulness to JavaScript developers,
let’s dive in!
Node / Node.js?
Node not to be confused with Node.js is a prevalent term in computer science. A node can be a document, images, or videos, it could also be a computer or device within a network. This means that a node or nodes varies depending on various concepts.
In JavaScript DOM (Document Object Model), for instance, the DOM tree consists of tree objects called nodes, these nodes refer to entities within the structure of an XML or HTML document. An example is the “element node” which represents elements in the document e.g. <p> </p>
In the context of web development, Node, or Node.js as it is commonly referred to serves as a cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment. This means it can operate on multiple environments within Windows, Linux, UNIX, and macOS).
As a runtime environment, Node.js allows the execution of programs or applications that are outside of a web browser. Noteworthy key points include:
It’s mostly used to build backend applications
It’s not a programming language
It can run on multiple environments
Initially, JavaScript was developed as a client-side language to be used in web browsers and to increase website functionality. It could only be executed inside the browser environment which made it quite limited.
So, in 2009 Ryan Dahl thought it would be great for JavaScript to be able to execute outside a browser after encountering limitations with server-side programming languages.
The goal became redefining how we think about I/O operations. Now, JavaScript has evolved, spreading out such that we can now run JavaScript as a server, on desktops, on mobile applications, etc.
When we write code, the browser has to convert the code to machine code which is the language the computer understands.
This machine code is in binary numbers 0’s and 1’s - and is what the computer processor understands. The conversion to machine code is performed by an engine. There are several JavaScript engines, examples include; SpiderMonkey by the Mozilla Foundation, chakra by Microsoft, and V8 engine by the Chromium project
Node.js uses Google's V8 engine as its runtime environment for executing code on the server side. Ryan Dahl incorporated the V8 engine into a C++ program this means that NodeJS contains a JavaScript engine that can execute JavaScript Code. V8 is the most famous among all these engines because it converts JavaScript code directly into machine code. As well, it is used to develop applications that run JavaScript on the client-side and server-side.
Use Cases
IoT systems,
APIs
Complex Single-Page Application.
Micro Services Applications
Streaming Applications
There are three important components of Node.js, and they are
1. JavaScript Runtime: The JavaScript runtime is the environment where JavaScript code is executed. Node.js is a runtime environment built on the V8 engine, which is responsible for executing JavaScript code outside of web browsers (e.g., Chrome) and in server-side environments (e.g., Node.js).
2. Event Loop: Libuv handles file system access, networking asynchronous operations, and the concurrency model. Libuv manages the event loop in NodeJS, which dictates how Node.js performs asynchronous operations. The event loop allows non-blocking I/O operations asynchronously. Its task is to check the queue for pending events and execute them iteratively.
3. Standard Library: The Node.js standard library consists of modules and APIs for different tasks, such as network communication, HTTP handling, file system operations, etc. It also comprises various utility functions.

















