Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment and library for running web applications outside the clients browser. It allows developers to write JavaScript code that runs directly in a computer process itself instead of in a browser. Node.js is built on top of Google Chromes V8 engine, which powers some of Googles in-browser applications like Gmail. Node.js is composed of Google’s V8 JavaScript engine, the libUV platform abstraction layer, and a core library that is written in JavaScript.
Node.js is used to create server-side web applications, and it is perfect for data-intensive applications since it uses an asynchronous, event-driven model. Node.js eliminates the waiting, and simply continues with the next request, making it very memory efficient. Node.js uses non-blocking, event-driven I/O to remain lightweight and efficient in the face of data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.
Node.js can generate dynamic page content, create, open, read, write, delete, and close files on the server, collect form data, and add, delete, modify data in your database. Node.js provides access to several important global objects for use with Node program files, such as HTTP and HTTPS for creating web servers, and File System, OS, and Path for interacting with the file system, operating system, and file/directory paths.
In summary, Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows developers to write server-side web applications using JavaScript. It is built on top of Google Chromes V8 engine and uses non-blocking, event-driven I/O to remain lightweight and efficient. Node.js can generate dynamic page content, interact with the file system, and modify data in your database.
