Wondering what NodeJS is, what benefits the platform has to offer and why you should consider learning it? Look no further - we have answered all the questions you may have about it in this blog.
What is NodeJS?
NodeJS is an open-source, cross-platform runtime environment and library for JavaScript, and it is used to run web applications outside the client's browser. NodeJS has a variety of applications, but today it is widely used by developers to build server-side web applications.
Because it employs an asynchronous, event-driven approach, it is ideal for data-intensive applications and comes with built-in command line tools.
Now that we are familiar with NodeJS let's examine why it is used frequently in web development and the benefits it has to offer like the built-in command line tools.
NodeJS History
Ryan Dahl created NodeJS in 2009. It initially only supported Linux and Mac OS X. Dahl oversaw its creation and upkeep, and subsequently, Joyent provided funding. Because it had to manage numerous connections simultaneously, Dahl attacked the Apache HTTP Server, the most popular web server, for having restricted capabilities.
JavaScript engines significantly improved as browsers fought to provide consumers with the best performance. Major browsers put a lot of effort into figuring out how to run JavaScript more quickly and provide better support.
NodeJS was made at the right time and location, establishing numerous methods for JavaScript server-side development and creative thinking that benefited many developers.
Why do we use NodeJS? Some main features
NodeJS is a very popular server-side platform, which offers the potential for quick development and competes with Java, Go, Ruby on Rails, and Python. It has many features that make it one of the best platforms, including:
- Asynchronous in Nature and Event-driven: NodeJS-based servers never have to wait for responses from an API. It advances directly to the following API without waiting for the data from the previous API.
As a result, NodeJS's whole library of APIs is completely non-blocking. It uses an event-driven approach to gather and track all the responses to earlier API requests. As a result, the NodeJS API as a whole is non-blocking - Single-Threaded Architecture: NodeJS uses event looping to adhere to a single-threaded architecture, which increases its scalability. They generate fewer threads than other servers do to process requests.
In contrast, the event-driven method allows the NodeJS servers to respond non-blocking or asynchronously, making NodeJS more scalable. Moreover, NodeJS can handle more queries when compared to other conventional servers like Apache HTTP servers. It processes many requests thanks to its single-threaded programming model. - Scalability: Most businesses now want easily scalable software. Scalability, one of the most important issues in software development, is addressed by NodeJS. Using NodeJS, concurrent requests can be managed effectively. NodeJS uses a cluster module to manage load balancing across all active CPU cores.
The most enticing aspect of NodeJS is its ability to segment programs horizontally. It primarily accomplishes this partitioning process through the usage of child processes. With this feature, separate app versions are offered to the various target markets, and it also enables customization to meet the preferences of the customer. - Quick Execution time for code: NodeJS, also used by Chrome, uses the V8 JavaScript runtime engine. The hub provides a wrapper for the JavaScript, accelerating the runtime motor. As a result, the preposition process for requests inside of NodeJS also quickens.
- Compatibility on cross platforms: NodeJS can be used on a variety of operating systems, including Windows, UNIX, LINUX, MacOS, and other portable devices. It can be combined with any suitable package to produce a self-sufficient execution.
- Uses JavaScript: The fact that NodeJS employs JavaScript is a crucial feature from the viewpoint of an engineer. Since the majority of developers are familiar with JavaScript, picking up NodeJS is much simpler.
- Fast Data Streaming: The time it takes to process the data transmitted to various streams is considerable. NodeJS requires relatively little time and works quickly to process the data. Because NodeJS processes and uploads files simultaneously, it saves a lot of time. NodeJS thus increases the overall speed of data and video streaming.
- No Buffering: The data is not buffered in a NodeJS application.
What Does a NodeJS Developer Do?
Network applications are deployed and maintained by NodeJS programmers. They create back-end components, coordinate data exchange between servers and users, and link apps to other web services. They assist front-end developers as well by incorporating web-based programs.
Moreover, the deployment and upkeep of network applications fall under the purview of the NodeJS developer. The exchange of data between servers and consumers is another responsibility of these engineers. They create back-end elements and link applications to other internet services.
The creation of server-side logic, the definition and upkeep of the central database, and guaranteeing excellent performance and responsiveness to requests from the front end are also the core concerns of a NodeJS developer.
The front-end components must also be integrated into the application by NodeJS engineers. Therefore, having a working knowledge of front-end technology is also essential.
A NodeJS developer often does the following tasks:
- Create and keep up all server-side network elements.
- Ensure that the central database operates at peak efficiency and is responsive to front-end requests.
- Work together with front-end programmers to integrate aspects.
- They should write testable, reusable, and efficient code to ensure that they only create high-performance applications.
- Create UIs for clients and back-end services.
- Implement data protection, security, and storage measures.
- Run diagnostic tests, fix issues, and even offer technical assistance.
- Combining server-side functionality with user-facing components created by front-end developers.
- Creating tested, efficient, and reusable code.
- Implementation of data protection and security.
How to Become a NodeJS Developer
Some of the biggest businesses in the world use NodeJS to create scalable websites with top-notch UIs. This includes businesses like Amazon, Netflix, PayPal, Uber, eBay, and NASA. Thus, to become a successful NodeJS developer and work in these prestigious companies, you must have certain skills that will give you an edge:
Understanding of JavaScript ES6
JavaScript has several flaws brought about by the circumstances surrounding its creation, making it far from being a perfect language. However, as programmers have become more proficient with the language over time, new developments have emerged, including ES6.
The newest JavaScript version, ES6, aims to close the gaps left by earlier JavaScript versions. In addition to blocking scoped declarations that are not prone to the problems associated with the var keyword, ES6 introduced the let and const keywords.
ES6 also promises to manage the results of requests and potential faults and offers a superior asynchronous operation in the form of async & await. Your codebase will be easier to comprehend thanks to ES6, which also gives JavaScript access to powerful new features not present in earlier iterations.
Therefore, having a firm grasp of ES6 will greatly advance your knowledge of JavaScript and enable you to produce more up-to-date, readable, and manageable JavaScript code.
Understanding of Node's Async Nature (Promises and Callbacks)
NodeJS's primary characteristic is its asynchronous and non-blocking programming style, which is designed to develop extremely scalable network applications. NodeJS includes all the advantages of asynchronous, non-blocking programming, including using several threads and processes to do background tasks that, when completed, will cause a callback in your code.
By enabling the simultaneous execution of several tasks, this asynchronous technique dramatically decreases the waiting time for requests. As a result, program efficiency, throughput, and performance are all significantly improved.
Moreover, a better understanding of first-class nature, promises, and callbacks can help prevent issues with asynchronous programming.
Understanding of Event-Driven Programming in Node
Event-driven programming is a logical programming paradigm that uses events to control how programs are executed to reduce the likelihood of program collisions. An event-driven application often employs an event loop to watch for an event to happen.
Because NodeJS is event-driven by nature, all operations and features follow events. Applications built with NodeJS are intended to recognize events as they happen and respond to them correctly using event-handling algorithms.
Therefore, successful NodeJS firms look out for NodeJS developers with a solid understanding of event-driven programming in Node and some experience using it to design, write, test, and debug moderately complicated event-driven apps.
Experience with Some JS Frameworks
One of the main reasons NodeJS is so popular is that it includes a ton of frameworks and packages that provide incredibly powerful tools tools like the built-in command line tools for creating highly scalable, feature-rich software applications.
These frameworks and libraries are used by numerous businesses to construct their applications. They are, therefore, in high demand on the market.
However, there are several NodeJS frameworks available, including, for example, ExpressJS, MeteorJS, and AdonisJS. Therefore, choosing the best NodeJS framework for your application development is crucial. ExpressJS is incredibly well-liked and is regarded as the "de facto" core framework that all NodeJS developers must be familiar with building an Express app. .
Because of this, Express is more widely utilized by developers than any other web application framework on the market. Express is well-liked because it makes it possible to start working on most new code bases quickly.
Therefore, being familiar with several well-known frameworks, such as Express, will be quite helpful.
Learn Version Control Tools and Package Management
Every NodeJS developer should be familiar with using source control programs like git and Github to collaborate with other team members. Source control will be used in professional teams and in any web application you work on, even if you're not a big lover of it. To advance your NodeJS programming abilities, learn more complex git commands than "commit" and "checkout."
Additionally, package management is an essential component of the NodeJS community. Fortunately, NodeJS includes the NPM CLI, a command-line tool that makes it simple for programmers to distribute libraries and handle dependencies.
Every NodeJS developer must be familiar with package management because they will interact with them frequently.
Learn Database Management and Security
The persistence layer, such as a database, must store dynamic data while creating a NodeJS application. As the complexity of your application rises, the data interaction also does so. Therefore, a key competency for any NodeJS developer is knowledge of database management and the ability to customize database schemes to the project's demands.
In addition, although web security has always been a concern, it is now more crucial than ever due to the recent rise in cyber-attacks and breaches. Any production application that consumers trust with their private data must now include data protection. Thus, some data protection mechanisms must be used to ensure the security of NodeJS programs and web apps.
Advantages of NodeJS
High Performance and Efficiency for Real-Time Applications
NodeJS's greatest asset is its fast performance for real-time applications. It's an advantage of NodeJS for accelerated apps. NodeJS-based application frameworks may easily handle a variety of jobs.
IPSec can perform concurrent queries without clogging RAM thanks to the IPsec design, which is extremely scalable despite the difficulty and expense of installing a single CPU.
Its event-linked and non-blockable operation allows for quicker code execution that has an impact on performance. GoDaddy has outperformed its rivals thanks to NodeJS. . It's a great platform to build CPU intensive applications.
Promising Learning Curve
JavaScript is not regarded as a programming language that is often easy to learn. NodeJS may be rapidly and easily learned without any prior programming knowledge. Writing code needs less work. Many developers who use NodeJS were polled about their intentions to pick up JavaScript in 2016.
It has the appearance of a general-purpose programming language. Even if the developer is a novice or a junior developer, there is no need to spend more time learning NodeJS.
Great Community Support
The NodeJS community provides specialized knowledge for tackling any challenging software project to millions of developers worldwide. It uses NPM, the biggest package management registry on the planet is NPM and a JavaScript package management tool.
For any project, you can use a variety of resources. On GitHub, you may also find a sizable collection of resources built on developer-written code that aims to increase flexibility while cutting expenses.
Convenient for Building Cross-Platform Applications
For building interactive web applications on any platform, NodeJS enables development across Electron and NW.JS platforms. Therefore, developing distinct programs for various desktop versions takes little effort.
You may design desktop apps without any Objective-C or C# programming knowledge. Moreover, NodeJS developers can write, debug, and build code using the Chrome developer tools. Also, it can be integrated with tools like Visual Studio Code very easily and you can run it directly from there.
How to Install NodeJS?
Download NodeJS Installer
Go to the official NodeJS site using a web browser. To get the most recent default version, use the Windows Installer option.
Install NodeJS and NPM from Browser
Launch the installer after it has finished downloading. Click the file after opening the downloads link in your browser. You can also launch the file by browsing to the spot where you saved it. The installation will then be finished using the default settings.
Verify Installation
Open a command prompt (or PowerShell), and enter the command:
node -vThe NodeJS version that is currently installed on your machine ought to be visible. The same applies to NPM:
npm -vComponents of NodeJS
Numerous elements make up NodeJS's fundamental parts. It is constructed in C and C++ using the kernel. It combines the Libuv library, sockets, and HTTP protocol bindings with Google's JavaScript V8 engine.
The Node JS component list includes the following:
NodeJS CLI:
A command line interface, or CLI, is a program that accepts text input and runs operating system commands. NodeJS comes with built-in command line tools in the form of the NodeJS CLI.
NPM:
The open-source repository NPM, commonly known as Node Package Manager, houses the tools that programmers use to create websites and applications.
V8 Runtime Environment:
V8 motor Google is an open-source JIT compiler created in C++.
Libuv:
The main event loop and asynchronous I/O operations of Node are handled by the C++ Libuv package. For every I/O operation, a thread is selected from a fixed-size thread pool. The Libuv module will handle these time-consuming tasks, freeing up the V8 engine and the rest of NodeJS to handle other requests.
NodeJS Architecture:
Node JS has a pipeline-based structure that allows it to enter input quickly and provide the related output. Although it still adheres to a very modular structure, particularly the V8 engine, they are nevertheless closely tied to their libraries.
Additionally, they support various distributed systems with flexible and dependable input and output data formats. A single thread and a loop event are both used by Node JS to accomplish the results.
Development Best Practices
Code is written once. Then it’s read, debugged, refactored, and scaled constantly. How you write code today will help you maintain and scale the application later down the road. So it is important to maintain some best practices while you develop your application:
Dividing your Code by Components
The maintenance of a sizable code base with several dependencies is one of the most challenging tasks for larger apps. As additional features are added, manufacturing and development are slowed down.
The entire codebase should be broken up into smaller components to ensure that each module has its folder and is kept straightforward and compact.
Layering Components
Each component is made to have "layers" because layering is crucial. These layers have functionality, data access code, and a specific object that can be used on the web as per NodeJS best practices. This allows a clear distinction between performance problems and processes and mock and test codes.
A common practice among developers is combining the layers by handing layer objects to the service and data layers. Because of this, your application is tightly connected, close coupling between app performance.
Using Linting Packages
The most well-known linting tool is ESLint, which is used to check for potential problems in code. You may also examine code styles to ensure they adhere to best practice guidelines. It pinpoints any spacing flaws or prospective code patterns that can result in security risks or potential app-breaking in the future.
Using Const Over Let, Do Not Use Var
Const variables are unchangeable after they are set, which will help you avoid using the same variable many times and maintain the cleanness of your code. The let keyword is used in several situations where we need to reassign variables. For instance, we can use let to re-declare a variable's value within a loop.
In addition, "let variables" have blocked the scope, which makes them only available within the block in which they were defined. Var-declared variables are available for usage throughout the function. The process manager is a straightforward command-line interface that maintains a constant flow of scripts in all projects.
Using Async-Await or Promises
Good development practices to instruct you to handle async errors with multiple callbacks inside promises using javascript's "synchronous function." However, this will inevitably lead to the callback hell issue. We can look at the available libraries or async to solve this speed problem and wait for JavaScript to overcome this performance issue.
The best approach is to use the process manager, which uses the promises function to detect code errors. This not only simplifies your code but also makes them easier to read.
