Quick Summary:

Node.js is a powerful JavaScript-based platform built on Google Chrome’s JavaScript V8 Engine. Product owners worldwide prefer it over other frameworks. Are you also a product owner and confused if Node.js is a good choice for your next project?

If Yes! Then you have landed on the right blog post. In this blog post, we have compiled comprehensive information on Node.js to free you from the dilemma of choosing the right framework for your next project and Why use Node.js in 2024.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The best reason to justify “Why use Node.js in 2024” is that it offers myriad real-time web apps adapted to drive technology over WebSockets. It promotes an environment for making real-time web apps and multifaceted connections. The client and server can facilitate communication, letting them exchange information seamlessly. At Present, more than 30 Million websites use Node js. So let us get you through this blog post to understand that amongst the available numbers of backend frameworks, why use Node.Js in 2024? So let’s get started.

What is Node.js?

Node.js is one of the most current and popular programming languages, especially for backend software development. Originally written in C++, Node.js was built in Chrome’s V8 JavaScript runtime.

Why Use Node.js

Angular, React, Vue.js, Meteor.js, and many JavaScript-based web frameworks. Whether frontend or backend, they all contribute to the increase in efficiency, cost-effectiveness, web security, and safety. However, Node.js is an optimal choice for building enterprise-level applications. But, the official definition describes it as a runtime environment that indicates a more considerable implementation scope. It includes REST APIs, OS wrappers, static file servers, drone programming, and microcontrollers.

Node.JS is usually dismissed by saying that it is a “server in Javascript,” this is partly true. Node.JS is more generally “server-side Javascript,” a Javascript engine that, among other things, is capable of pulling up an HTTP or TCP server in a few lines of code! The server is, therefore, not something unrelated to the web application we want to create, but it is a feature of the application itself!

Why Node js in 2024?

Node js is the most popular backend development framework for web app development, and it is adopted and widely used by popular industry leaders. Let’s hear straight from the Node expert why Node is the perfect choice for enterprise app development. Please go through the video to understand the various use-cases of Node JS. Further, the video also covers the comparison of NodeJS with other backend technologies.

Node.js Market Size

The Node.js Market has seen a considerable growth upsurge in a few years and is growing at an even more incredible pace. It already crossed the 1 billion download threshold in 2018. Referring to data by W3Techs, Node.js is used by approx. 2.1% of all websites.

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According to Stack Overflow Developer’s Survey 2022, 47.12% of developers prefer using Node.js for their web development needs. It is also one of the reasons Why do we use Node js.

Node.js Market Size

Top Companies using Node.js

Node.js is not only popular in the community today but among numerous market giants like Twitter, Spotify, eBay, Reddit, LinkedIn, Godaddy, PayPal, LinkedIn, Netflix, Uber, eBay, Apple, Amazon, Walmart, Groupon, and many others trust Node.js for their web app development. Node.js code is also deployed in the following companies for their production and development:

  • Amazon Web Services
  • Heroku
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • On-premise Infrastructure
  • Digital Ocean
  • IBM Bluemix
  • Red Hat Openshift

All About Node.Js Architecture and How it Works?

Node.Js Architecture

Nodejs Web Application Architecture

“Single Threaded Event Loop” architecture, this short phrase sums up the whole NodeJS architecture. It handles multiple requests simultaneously, uses an event-driven non-blocking I/O model with a JavaScriptcallback mechanism, and is highly customizable and scalable. But, it is not just it; some other features also help NodeJS stand out among others in the market and make it an exceptional choice; the more reason Why use Node.js:

  • Non-blocking: As the name suggests, the Node.js library uses all non-blocking APIs. The other tasks are executed continuously and asynchronously when one response is awaited from outside the execution chain. It is not a mandate that a program runs line by line. It just calls for the function a move forward without waiting for the return.
  • Event-Driven: A NodeJs server uses a mechanism known as Event for notification. It receives all the API requests and tracks them, informing the event processor, who executes the exact response as requested asynchronously. The Event-loop also allows the execution of the non-blocking operations. The Node.js developers say that a specific library called “Libuv” provides this mechanism known as an event loop. This Node.js processing model is based on Javascript event-based model along with the callback mechanism.
  • Cross-platform Compatibility: The most significant feature of Node.js is that it is compatible with platforms like Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and others.

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Highly innovative product owners already know the importance of Node.js. If you want to develop an enterprise-grade app, hire Node.js developers to build a feature-rich, dynamic, and secure web app.

Components of Node.js Architecture

  • Requests: Depending on the User’s actions, the requests to the server can be either blocking (complex) or non-blocking (simple).
  • Node.js Server: The Node.js server accepts user requests, processes them, and returns results to the users.
  • Event Queue: The primary use of Event Queue is to store the incoming client requests and pass them sequentially to the Event Loop.
  • Thread Pool: The Thread pool in a Node.js server contains the threads available for performing operations required to process requests.
  • Event Loop: Event Loop receives requests from the Event Queue and sends out the responses to the clients.
  • External Resources: For blocking client requests, external resources are used; They can be of any type (computation, storage, etc.)

How Node.js Architecture Work?

Node.js is an event-driven server-side environment based on a Chrome V8 engine that helps to create fast and reliable backend applications. But before deep-diving into the working, it is essential to understand – is node js reliable? NodeJs is a single-threaded metachronous structure that enhances the accessibility and performance of your application.

Node.js Architecture Components

Multiple threads in the background execute all the functions (or callbacks) asynchronously. Credit goes to the Node.js runtime that handles this. Thus, Node.js is a non-blocking environment that enhances the web app’s performance. It is known as the ‘Single-Threaded Event Loop’ architecture of Node.js.

Node.js Architecture Components

  • Firstly, the User sends the request to the web server to interact with the web app. The requests can be blocking or non-blocking (Querying, Deletion, Updation, or any other request)
  • Node.js server receives the request and adds them to the Event Queue, where they are taken one by one via an Event Loop which checks if they need any external resource.
  • Event Loop then processes the simple requests (non-blocking operations) and returns the response to the request’s source or the User.
  • For complex requests, a single thread is assigned from the thread pool. The designated thread accesses the external resources and completes the particular blocking request.
  • Again, after the access of the external resources, the response is sent to the Event Loop, that in turn sends the response back to the User.

Let us discuss more on what node js is used for,

Nodejs was created with the essence of push-based real-time architecture. It is employed for catering backend API services and building conventional websites. Due to its single-threaded nature, Node js is used for non-blocking, event-driven servers.

This open-source, JavaScript, and cross-platform runtime environment use a non-blocking event-based input model, which indirectly translates JS into ML to provide increased performance and Agility. We will cover more possibilities and capabilities of what kind of applications can be built using Node.js later in this blog post.

Node.js Architecture Components

NPM: Node Package Manager

Node Package Manager or NPM is the largest ecosystem of all open-source libraries worldwide, with more than 1 million packages. It is free to use, with massive community support.

NPM comes with an additional command-line utility. It allows you to visit the NPM website and install any package using a single command. It also allows you to manage versions of the package, review dependencies and set up custom scripts via the command-line utility. Another reason behind NPM’s popularity among product owners is due to its extensive package support.

Installing NPM Packages Via CLI

NPM comes complimentary with Node.js. Let’s have a look at the package installation command with NPM. Just enter the name of the desired package in the column.

You can also install multiple packages at the same time. Enter the package name(s) depending.

Installing NPM Packages Via CLI

If you wish to install a package in the global context, i.e., use the package anywhere across your machine. Then, you can specify the -g (global) flag.

NPM automatically creates a package.json file when you initialize a new app. The package.json consists of all the NPM packages. Here you can specify dependencies, versions, and custom scripts.

A long list of commands comes with the NPM utility, including audit, run, publish, and more. You can check how to use these using the npm help command.

Installing NPM Packages Via CLI

Top NodeJS Packages

Let’s have a look at the best NPM Packages, a list of a few of them are;

  • Express: Express.js is a web development framework for Node.js and the perfect standard for most Node.js apps.
  • Forever: It is a simple CLI tool for ensuring that a given script runs without interruption and keeps the Node.js process running in case of unexpected failures.
  • Async: It provides specific, powerful functions for working with asynchronous JavaScript.
  • MongoDB: It is the official driver of MongoDB, which delivers the API for MongoDB object databases in Node.js.
  • Moment: It is a JS date library for parsing, validating, manipulating, and formatting dates.
  • Commander.js: It is for working and building with command-line interfaces for node.js.
  • Passport: It is for simple, unobtrusive authentication for Node.js. Its sole purpose is to authenticate requests.
  • Redis: It is a client library that supports the Redis database integration.
  • Mocha: A simple, flexible JavaScript test framework for Node.js and the browser.
  • Socket.io: It offers real-time, bidirectional, and event-based communication.
  • Lodash: It makes JavaScript easier by taking the hassle out of working with arrays, numbers, objects, strings, etc.

Node.js Hello World Example

First and foremost comes the “Hello World” program. In this, using Node.js, we will create a server that delivers “Hello World” as the output on a server request.

The first step is to open the text editor (a good one recommended) and type the code given below.

Node.js Hello World Example

Save this file as `server.js.` Now jump to the terminal and start the server using the command below:

Node.js Hello World Example

Now, open http://localhost:3000 in your web browser to get the output. And you will get the output as given below:

Node.js Hello World Example

Why use Node.Js for Enterprise App Development

The prominent reason Why enterprises use Node js as their backend technology is to strengthen their web application; the exact causes are the answers to our query of “Why use Node js in 2024”. A CEO’s prime concern raising questions is regarding the future scope of their application and whether the technology is scalable, reliable, and secure.
Let us see how NodeJs fulfills these requirements.

🟠 Is Node js Scalable?
As you choose Node.js as your frontend development tech-stack, then it becomes so easy to expand your business in the future without changing the frontend. Node Js offers flexibility and scalability via containerization and by its microservices architecture.

A real-time example of Node’s scalability is Uber using Node. Looking at the ever growing and expanding network of the taxi company, Node.js is doing a great job even during peak hours and holiday seasons.

🟠 Is Node Secure?
Node Js comes along with supporting HTTPS protocol by enabling your application to open securely and stay from exposure. It also provides a crypto library to protect your application data. Moreover, you can rely on the massively strong community of Node.js to overcome and get support for your concerns.

Hence, your answer to- Is node js secure? Will get more insights as you read the best practices for nodejs security.

🟠 Is Node js Reliable?

Node has to offer immense reliability because of the Node Package Manager. Node.js NPM is a default tool that comes with everyNode.js installation. The Node js NPM modules are similar to the Ruby Gems – publically available, easy installation, and reusable components with version and dependency management.

The NPM makes Node highly reliable by offering all types of solutions possible.

What is Node Used For: Nodejs Use Cases

There are numerous reasons for product owners to answer our query, “Why use Node.js in 2024.” But, the correct answer to this context is that it gives an edge to them over their competitors. To understand it better, let us look at the Nodejs use cases based on the types of apps you can build using Node.js.

🟠 Build Real-Time Apps wih Nodejs
Building a chat room by using Node js makes a difference. It has all the operational and functional tools you might need to create a brilliant chat room app. You might be aware that Firefox and Chrome – search engines have an API to access a computer’s camera. Using it, images from a camera get processed near the submission of a chat room, and then a gif is sent to the room. Moreover, you can turn your smartphone into a remote control and use other modern web APIs like WebRTC; you can create your own Google Hangout-like applications. i.e., Talky.io.

🟠 Design Complex SPAs with Node js.
SPA includes an allocation of the entire application where the UX is similar to the desktop application. This specific type of application provides mail solutions, social networking tools, online text, and drawing tools, and that is why Node js application development is an ideal fit for SPAs. The best thing about Node SPA is it eliminates the need to refresh the page every time. SailJS and DustJS are highly popular for building complex SPAs with the help of Node.js.

🟠 Create Online Games with Node.js
Node.js game development is another pro advantage as it allows us to build browser-based data streaming online games. Socket.io, as well as Express.js, makes NodeJS capable of real-time interactions. The reason is a client-side library that runs on the browser and lets the end-users perform the action. The second is a server-side library that ensures smooth communication. Together, it enables you to utilize an event-based communication environment.

🟠 Create Secure Rest APIs in NodeJS
Representational state transfer based on APIs holds a fundamental position when building modern web architectures. The significant reason is the wide usage of the HTTP protocol. REST APIs are in-demand because of Microservices’ design patterns. NodeJS ecosystem provides ExpressJS a minimal and flexible Node.JS web application framework, which gives us a robust set of features to build single-page web applications and multi-page web along with mobile applications and fast REST APIS. Node.JS makes routing easier.

🟠 Create Command Line Tools with Node.js
CLI Tools are scripts, programs, and libraries created to solve the problems of the creator of the said tool. Many guidelines are available on the internet to build hands-on command-line scriptsNode.js expansive ecosystem is an added advantage to finding an ideal package to make your CLI app.

🟠 Dashboard for Stock Traders
Stock traders ideally prefer the desktop-based application, but offering them a real-time application for broker trading software to perform calculations, track prices, create graphs, and chats can make any place comfortable to their workstation.

🟠 Start your eCommerce Journey with NodeJs.
NodeJs was formulated to generate a scalable system with enough consistency to create many connections simultaneously with the server that ideally happens with eCommerce websites. Generally, when many connections are created, the performance and speed of applications and web pages are impaired. This is because most technologies that work from the server-side trigger requests in isolation and through independent threads. Therefore, when the number of requests to the e-commerce sites increases, the resources and their consumption also increase.

Another point to consider in eCommerce Node js websites is JavaScript. Allowing developers to write in JavaScript on both the server and the client side makes data transfer between these points faster and reduces work times. Node.js has a library of different JavaScript modules which can be loaded through a simple function and made available as components ready for web and e-commerce development.

🟠 Build Social Network Using Node JS
Node js can be used for building the backend of social media networking sites. It offers fast routing with Google’s V8 engine and is accompanied by secure authentication. The most essential part of any social media network is scalability, and again Node js fits this circle. Some vast names like LinkedIn and Medium are rebuilt using Node js.

🟠 Node.js for Chatbots and Chat Apps
Node.js is a one-stop option for real-time chatbots and chat apps. The features needed for all chatbots include multi-user apps, intensive data, and massive traffic across devices. Node js ideally covers all these requirements for chatbot apps. It is also simpler to execute push notifications and server-side event loops, popular in IMs and real-time apps.

🟠 Use Node.js for IoT App Development
IoT has gained a whole new level of popularity these days. But, since its increasing popularity, Node.js is extensively gaining the same and has become the most preferred choice for those looking for IoT solution systems. It operates on writable and readable channels and streams, making it the most suitable platform for IoT app development.

Many C-Suite Executives come to us wondering, “Why node.js is better than other frameworks?” Let us answer that for you with the industries benefitting from NodeJS. the latest changes and features to analyze the future compatibility of your existing project with the help of Node 19.

Industries That are Benefiting from Node.js

Node Js have helped develop millions of websites globally; below are a few NodeJs industry use cases that have used Node Js for their product development. Let us have a look at some of the prominent sectors where Nodejs use cases can be marvelous:

Industries That are Benefiting from Node.js

Media and Entertainment Industry

The media and entertainment need to reach a broad sector of the audience with their content. In this case, a free and open-source network can be of superior help to handle around 500k requests in a single day. At the same time, they even require a scalable application that can store a large amount of data daily. Thanks to Node.js architecture that can break down extensive data into small chunks, thereby bringing a remarkable change in the same industry. Hire a Node.js development company to experience the difference in your applications.

Netflix, the most famous streaming platform, lacked performance, but they chose Node.js, keeping the app scalability and data-intensive apps in mind, and have bloomed the benefits of the same.

Social Networking

Today, Social media has almost become everyone’s obsession. According to statistics, it is seen that an average person spends approximately 4 hours of the day surfing social media platforms. These social media applications can benefit vastly by personalizing or scaling up the activities with the help of Node.js. Additionally, it can update itself easily without disturbing the large community these social media platforms usually have. With the use of Node js, Nodejs social network applications will also become seemingly fast and, as a result, will fetch a more significant number of users.

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network on the internet, previously worked on ROR, which is synchronous and affects the performance and efficiency of the app. Afterward, they shifted to Node.js, which provided them with enhanced speed, higher traffic management, and a server cut-down of 15 to 4.

Healthcare

Using Node js in the healthcare sector will result in quicker test results and faster diagnosis. A remarkable example is the “On-demand Doctor” application developed using Nodejs. It currently ranks as the number one application in its particular category and has only shown that the use of Node js can transform the healthcare sector by a fair margin. Nodejs apps can bring a drastic transformation within the healthcare industry as follows:

  • Online Scheduling: Helping customers schedule appointments with their doctors using a mobile application.
  • Payment Gateway-Integration: This will allow healthcare facilities to accept payments through the application.
  • Real-time Video Consultation: This will allow patients to consult a doctor using a real-time video streaming application without physically visiting the clinic.

AsthmaGuide, an app for monitoring asthma patients’ health, was developed using the HealthNode framework. The core reason behind choosing Node.js for this project was to ensure data security and scalability.

Banking

Banks have serious numbers to count daily, and to process thousands of online transactions in a matter of a minute, they need a robust banking platform they can trust. Bank applications built on Node.js can help banks with this task of financial management. So far, most banks have developed their net banking facilities using javascript. But often, these sites tend to respond slowly or crash at the worse during peak business hours. Since Node.js is mostly lite on the servers, it can make up for an excellent banking platform that even offers customization. The asynchronous nature of Node JS got the better at maintaining loads on the server.

The US-based payment system PayPal is developed using Node.js, the reason being handling the high amount of active user data, faster development time, and reduced line of codes.

eCommerce

Better order handling and processing management could be achieved using Node js to develop the eCommerce application. It is even a reality where most of the existing eCommerce platforms migrated into the Node.js community. Also, several of these eCommerce platforms serve multiple countries. Hence, Node.js can efficiently process the data from anywhere while keeping a fast load time to the site for the consumers. Results were good for every eCommerce platform that decided to move to Node.Js.

Walmart, the American multinational retail corporation, a pioneer in the e-commerce business, shifted to Node.js to curb the issue of making multiple updates at once and reduced performance. Another reason for choosing Node.js was to get the ability to handle concurrent requests and the asynchronous I/O.

Shipping and Logistics

Node.js helps to build applications to process real-time data. Thanks to its short code processing abilities that make this possible. Implementing the same in the Shipping & Logistics sector will yield impressive results. Its highly responsive APIs can quickly inform port operators regarding the containers and their respective loading vessels. Its open-source framework would also allow Logistics companies to build applications that can perform all the tasks from booking freight to its delivery.

Our very own ride-sharing provider UBER uses Node.js. The reason is the quick iterations, asynchronous I/O, and extensive community support. It improved its performance and gave a substantial arena to scale.

Real Estate

Real estate developers can now have a platform to showcase their upcoming projects with an application built on Node js. Customers interested in investing in newer real estate deals can use this application. With a lite site, handling and processing registration documents would be more straightforward. It will even allow project managers to send all updates regarding construction and other details with the help of this same application. Overall the organization part will go a notch higher with Node.js.

When You Shouldn’t Use Node.js?

Nothing in this world exists which is perfect. So is the case with Node.js; though it has an extensive list of use cases and industries benefiting from it, a few specific app types need reconsideration when choosing the proper backend framework, as there are other better options available for the same.

🟠 CRUD Apps
Sometimes, an overkill is also a case where you shouldn’t use a framework, and so is the issue with using Node.js in simple CRUD apps where data comes from the server directly with no requirement of the API then it is a wastage of Node.js features and an unnecessary burden on your pocket.

🟠 Server-side web apps with relational databases on the backend
Node.js lacks relational database tools, which other platforms can offer in a better way and with better efficiency. Though, referring to the latest version of Sequelize ORM may fill this gap and allow using Node.js with relational databases.

🟠 Heavy server-side computing Apps.
Heavy server side-computations block all other requests as Node.js uses only a single CPU core. It makes the main advantage of Node.js, the event-driven non-blocking I/O model, useless, affecting the app performance.

Node.js is a dynamically developing environment backed by a vast community that improves extensively every year. It contributes significantly to businesses by offering them the best-in-class digital solutions. The product owners love it, and it is increasing at a tremendous pace, and so are the trends relating to it. Below, we have given a few most talked about Node.js trends in 2024.

🟠 GraphQL
GraphQL is a query language and server-side runtime for APIs to make them fast, flexible, and developer-friendly. It helps the users fetch data from the server without the hassle of under-fetching and over-fetching, delivering a fast data-loading hierarchical and strongly-type language structure.

🟠 MEAN and MERN Stacks
The two outstanding stacks, MEAN and MERN, are a collection of technology that offers a faster app development process. Both these stacks dominate the market with their solutions and will keep up with their position in the app development field in 2024.

🟠 Serverless Architecture
Many businesses are shifting to the serverless architecture approach, where they free themselves from the hustle of hardware dependence and app server configuration. Many giants like AWS Lambda, Azure, Google Cloud, and others are the ones who handle the software and hardware issues giving you ample time to work on your app.

Node.js is easy to integrate into a cloud platform with serverless architectures; this reduces development cost and deliver better code quality and flexibility in apps.

Final Words

We hope your purpose of landing on this blog why Node js is used in 2024 has been served. Node.js can help your application to scale to a much higher level, and that’s the reason behind why use Node js and why it is the first and foremost choice of tech giants.

If you are looking for well-versed developers to build interactive, result-oriented, and data-intensive apps, then hire Node.js developers from us. We are a globally renowned Node.js development company offering end-to-end Node.JS product development support, consulting, migration, and team augmentation support.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Node Js is single-threaded in nature; hence, it is ideal for event-driven servers and non-blocking performance. However, Node.js shouldn’t be used for applications with heavy server-side computing. This is because heavy server-side computations block all the other requests since it only uses one CPU core. The application’s performance will suffer in such cases since Node.js is useless.

Yes, you can use Node.js for microservices and serverless. Choosing Node.js for microservices enables you to get a flexible, lightweight, and high-performance app. You can deploy small teams for separate parts of your app development, use multiple languages, and implement changes whenever needed, collectively improving performance and saving time. So, Node.js can be used for Microservices.

Yes, Node.js can be used for Serverless. Serverless with Node.js makes it economical for product owners with zero spending on DevOps. Using Node.js frees the product owners from the hassle of managing servers and using functions when writing a code that provides the ability to deploy any unique code or function.

Node.js is lightweight and hence the most preferred backend by enterprise applications. Compared to other backend technologies such as Laravel, Ruby on Rails, and Python, NodeJs offers excellent performance making your application faster. The significant difference between Node Js and other frameworks is that it uses asynchronous and single-threaded architecture. If you compare NodeJs with golang, both offer fantastic app performance, but NodeJs wins in error handling.

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