Engineering Quality Solutions
Discover the future of NodeJS – a powerful JavaScript runtime for scalable, real-time apps. Learn about features, benefits, and drawbacks.
By Lokesh Dudhat
Last updated on: November 12, 2024
The future of NodeJS looks promising as it continues to be the most widely used web framework by developers globally. With popular websites such as Netflix, PayPal, and LinkedIn using NodeJS, it’s clear that it’s the go-to choice for high-traffic websites and real-time applications.
NodeJS is one of the most versatile, powerful, and easy-to-learn server-side frameworks that have emerged recently. For this reason, NodeJs has become immensely popular with web developers worldwide.
Statista reports that, as of 2022, NodeJS is the most widely used web framework among developers worldwide, with 47.12 percent of respondents using it.
In this blog, we will discover the Future of NodeJS, its features, benefits, drawbacks, reasons for utilizing NodeJS, what are the alternatives of Node, reasons behind the Popularity of Node JS, and various other insightful details.
NodeJS is an open-source cross-platform runtime environment for developing server programs built on Chrome’s JavaScript runtime. It is commonly used to build fast and scalable network applications.
Ryan Dahl created NodeJS in 2009, and since then, it has been gaining popularity among developers.
NodeJS builds scalable network applications that run across distributed devices (e.g., IoT). It allows you to build fast and scalable network applications that run on many devices simultaneously and asynchronously (i.e., without waiting for other requests to finish).
The NodeJS architecture follows event-driven programming, meaning that the application will listen to events from the user or from other sources like databases or other services, etc.
Once an event occurs, the application will execute some code associated with this event, which can be a single function or multiple functions depending upon the complexity of your application requirements.
NodeJS has been gaining popularity among developers due to its ease of use and speed compared to other languages, such as PHP or Ruby on Rails (RoR).
Developers can create a web application in just a few lines of code and can build on top of their existing javascript knowledge as it runs on the same runtime as the browser. This makes it possible for developers with different experience levels to work together on a single project.
A key benefit of NodeJS is that it is open-source. You can use it for free and modify and distribute it as you wish, which is not possible with other languages like Java or C++.
The source code for all modules used by NodeJS is available for inspection, modification, and redistribution under open-source licenses. This lets users see exactly how each module functions, which helps ensure you use only secure and reliable modules in your application.
Entrepreneurs often wear many hats and face many challenges before launching their products. So it’s no surprise that they want to keep their lives as simple as possible. That’s why many of them enjoy working with NodeJS.
NodeJS allows them to share one language between the server and client sides, and they don’t have to switch back and forth between backend and frontend development.
NodeJS allows you to reuse and share code between the front and backend, speeding up the development process. This means that you only have to deploy one code. Everything is in one place – making your life a lot easier.
Startuplers know that time is money. In the first few months, they have to work rapidly to test, deploy, and deliver their products as soon as possible. NodeJS is particularly helpful in shortening the time-to-market cycle.
NodeJS is a technology that can help you reduce the time it takes to develop an application while still providing the same functionality.
NodeJS is an important part of full-stack development. You can hire MERN developers to help you build your apps quickly, reducing the development time. Expert MERN stack developers are already familiar with NodeJS, so they can hit the ground running and help you get your app up and running in no time.
Since NodeJS uses an event-driven architecture, it allows you to handle multiple requests at once without blocking the thread or interfering with each other.
NodeJS is ideal for real-time applications like chatbots, multiplayer games, and IoT devices, as they require high concurrency to handle multiple requests simultaneously.
NodeJS is the perfect fit for a microservices architecture – which is amazing news for projects destined to scale and grow in the future. With NodeJS, you can create a separate microservice for any specific functionality and then scale it independently from all the other parts.
Also Read: 9 Node.js Development Trends to watch out for in 2023
NodeJS is not ideal for executing heavy CPU-based computing tasks, even though it’s single-threaded and event-driven.
If NodeJS receives a sizable CPU-driven task in its event loop, it utilizes the available CPU strength to complete the task. However, this can lead to the deceleration of the overall event loop, which hinders your application’s interface.
In 2018, NodeJS introduced the “worker threads” module to help developers execute multiple threads simultaneously. However, this solution does not entirely help you to deal with CPU-bound computation challenges.
API changes are often a pain point for NodeJS users as they are generally backward-incompatible and require code changes to stay updated with the latest NodeJS API.
Unfortunately, API changes can be time-consuming for developers who must continually update their code to match the latest API version.
Callbacks are a huge part of technology and play a significant role in the asynchronous approach. This function happens after every task in the queue, and it’s responsible for keeping track of queued tasks running in the background.
Callbacks can sometimes result in callback hell, negatively impacting the code’s performance and quality. This limitation makes the code hard to understand and maintain, which is frustrating for everyone involved.
Several NPM registries and libraries are either of poor quality or incomplete and not well-documented. This can make things difficult for those who develop web applications in NodeJS, as it is difficult to monitor and keep track of what is happening.
Selecting a well-qualified and experienced technology partner is critical for the success of your project. Open-source web applications have a vast pool of libraries and modules to choose from, which can also lead to a lack of coding standards.
When looking for a tech partner, check their project experience and ask for referrals from reputable sources. With the right team on your side, you can achieve extraordinary results.
The demand for NodeJS development is growing every year. Companies want to hire Node developers, but there is a shortage of expert NodeJS developers. This is because to master JavaScript, developers need to work as a backend development partner – something that not all JavaScript developers can do.
The current market for JavaScript developers is incredibly saturated, but that doesn’t mean finding an excellent NodeJS developer is easy. Businesses are now starting to outsource their NodeJS development projects because it’s become challenging to find someone with the specific skill set required.
SolGuruz is a top Node development company that can help bridge the gap between supply and demand for expert developers.
You can use NodeJS on any modern browser or operating system, including Windows, macOS, Linux, or UNIX systems, with a JavaScript engine like Chrome V8 or SpiderMonkey (Mozilla’s JavaScript implementation).
It allows you to create applications compatible with multiple operating systems without having to rewrite code repeatedly.
The V8 Engine is a powerful tool that can help translate JavaScript into machine code. Initially developed for Chrome, the V8 Engine has been adapted for web app development. The V8 Engine is one of the most superior engines available, and it can help make your web apps more efficient and faster.
NodeJS provides support for garbage collection (GC) via the V8 Engine, which automatically detects when your application is no longer using objects and frees up memory resources.
The GC system was designed to be fast and efficient while freeing up your application from manually managing memory allocation/deallocation tasks.
NodeJS uses an asynchronous data processing structure that helps it process requests simultaneously. Next, NodeJS employs an event-based software development approach. This means there is no defined output order, and the output is delivered solely based on the user’s inputs.
The official package ecosystem of NodeJS is known as the node package manager (NPM). It provides developers with a dynamic repository of tools and modules they can use for app development. NPM is a free marketplace for developers where they can find all the resources they need to get started with their projects.
NPM offers a wide range of modules that can help with everything from file upload management to establishing connectivity to MySQL databases. One of the most popular modules is Socket.io, which allows for real-time communication between the server and the client. With more than 600,000 open-source projects on NPM, you’re sure to find the tools you need for your next project.
NodeJS is famous for a few reasons, but one of the main ones is that it uses JavaScript as its primary language to build web applications. This means developers familiar with JavaScript can easily transition to using NodeJS for web development.
Additionally, JavaScript is now the only language choice for developing web applications in the browser, making NodeJS an even more attractive option for web developers.
NodeJS is an event-driven architecture, which means that everything executed on the platform is a series of asynchronous callbacks. This makes NodeJS light in weight and allows it to run on a single thread, unlike other web technologies where a new thread is spawned for every client request. Additionally, this forms the foundation of Node’s non-blocking I/O feature.
NodeJS has become increasingly popular among developers in recent years due to its ease of use and flexibility. Several cloud-based hosting providers and web servers support web applications built on Node out-of-the-box, including Google, Amazon AWS, Heroku, Microsoft IIS, Microsoft Azure, and more. This makes it an excellent platform for building scalable and high-performance web applications.
NodeJS web development is not an all-in-one solution. Instead, you can customize or add what you need over time. This prevents having unnecessary libraries. NodeJS uses NPM (Node Package Manager) as its default package manager. Using a package manager, you can download and install libraries that others have created with NodeJS.
There are many alternatives to NodeJS that can be used instead of NodeJS, which will help you overcome the drawbacks of NodeJS. Here are some of them:
ASP.NET is a Microsoft-powered open-source, server-side web app framework that enables developers to create interactive and data-driven applications on the Internet. It offers a complex API for real-time development, including the creation of dynamic web pages, microservices, and web-based applications.
ASP.NET contains several important controls, like buttons, text boxes, and forms. These controls allow computer code to be executed by an Internet server. ASP.NET is a free framework that makes the most of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for creating websites, APIs, and real-time technologies like Web Sockets.
Sencha Ext JS is a comprehensive JavaScript app framework, popular among developers as an alternative to NodeJS. It helps create interactive, data-rich, and cross-platform web applications by using technologies like DOM scripting, DHTML, and Ajax. The unified component framework of Sencha Ext JS can be completely utilized to create single-page applications for modernized devices.
With more than 140 well-tested and pre-integrated UI components like grids, pivot grids, HTML5 calendars, trees, lists, forms, D3 adapters, menus, panels, toolbars, windows, etc., Sencha provides everything you need to create complete apps with great performance. Additionally, effective Sencha tools help streamline the app development process for even greater efficiency.
Ruby is a programming language that can be used to write scripts or applications for web servers, desktop applications, and embedded devices.
It has a large fan base and is very versatile, being able to be used for many different purposes, such as prototyping, data analytics, and proof of concept. Its most popular implementation is Ruby on Rails, a development framework that has gained popularity.
One of the main reasons people choose Ruby is because it offers faster speed and supports .NET and Java Virtual Machine (JVM). It is widely used in all types of application development, including frontend, backend, and web development. Additionally, its high-level syntax makes it easier to learn and use than other languages.
There are several situations where Node is the right choice:
NodeJS is perfect for real-time messaging or chatting use cases because of its great speed and performance capability. Its environment can support heavy traffic of multiple short messages or chatrooms where messages are displayed to many users simultaneously without slowing down.
NodeJS is the best possible technology for implementing IoT development projects because of its speed, power, and ability to handle large data flows.
NodeJS can also be easily integrated with IoT protocols, making it possible to create comprehensive solutions for various use cases. The Node Package Manager (NPM) is an excellent tool for quickly and easily implementing IoT projects.
“Streaming” data refers to sending large amounts of data in small packages instead of one large batch. This is important for audio or video streaming applications. NodeJS is a good choice for this task because it has built-in modules that support data streaming. These modules allow you to create both readable and writable data streams.
New advancements are always being made in the IT industry, and companies are always trying to keep up with the latest developments. NodeJS is one example of the results of such a development in the industry.
NodeJS has been experiencing an explosion in popularity and growth over the last few years.
When there’s a new technology or advancement in IT, the market gets excited about it for a few months and then moves on to the next best thing. However, that’s not the case with NodeJS. It’s a real game-changer that stands out among its competitors.
At the moment, it seems like Node JS is essential for any front-end improvements. However, this technology isn’t used in other areas, such as embedded systems, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML).
As client acknowledgment of NodeJS increases, so does its potential for future development. Users will demand more focus on faster startup times, better use of infrastructure, and greater data security.
The increased quality and stability of NodeJS will help it gain traction in the cloud and service offerings. It’s expected that NodeJS will benefit from improved and enhanced troubleshooting tools.
Paypal is a leading fintech company that allows users to transact online in over 100 currencies. The company has been using NodeJS to build the consumer-facing side of its web applications, which has over 429 million active customer accounts (as of 2022).
LinkedIn is a social networking service that helps businesses connect. It allows users to invite anyone to become a connection and is available in 24 languages.
LinkedIn uses NodeJS for its mobile app, which is up to 20 times faster than the previous version that used Ruby on Rails. The development process for the new app was unusually fast, and as a result, the number of servers needed was cut from 30 to 3.
Yahoo is an American multinational technology company focused on and globally recognized for its web portal, search engine, and related services. The search engine holds 1.65% of the market share.
NodeJS has changed the way front-end developers work at Yahoo. It powers multiple sites and will soon power most of Yahoo!
Netflix is a global provider of video streaming, including movies and television series, available in over 190 countries. As of 2022, Netflix has over 220 million subscribers worldwide, with more than 74.5 million in the U.S. Node has proved to be an effective technology for Netflix’s user interface, and the company wants to use it in other parts of the stack as well.
SolGuruz is a top web development agency in India. The team of experienced web developers has over 10 years of experience building web applications and mobile apps.
Our experts have a wide range of skills and expertise that enables us to become the top backend development company. We work as your web development partner in building custom-tailored solutions for any project, regardless of size or complexity.
Over the last four years, NodeJS development has become increasingly popular due to its ability to compete with other options, and this popularity is projected to continue in 2023. Startups all over the world are choosing NodeJS for their projects because of its robustness and scalability.
According to Stack Overflow Research, NodeJS is a popular framework for backend development and is used by many developers worldwide. The framework is seen as the future of backend technologies.
No, Deno is a new language; like any new language, it’s not perfect. It’s the product of around two years of work on an idea, and it hasn’t been tried and tested in production systems yet. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good language or won’t be useful in production systems. It means NodeJS supersedes Deno for now.
Written by
Lokesh is a Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at SolGuruz, a senior technical consultant with over 10 years of experience in exploring the horizon of the software development industry. He has worked closely with startups and enterprises, mentoring them in engineering their tech solutions. With a hands-on experience of 10+ years as a developer, he has delivered solutions using a wide range of technologies such as iOS, Android, Angular, Node, RTC, React, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Python, and many more. At SolGuruz, we believe in delivering a combination of technology and management. Our commitment to quality engineering is unwavering, and we never want to waste your time or ours. So when you work with us, you can rest assured that we will deliver on our promises, no matter what.
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