what is node.js

Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment. It is designed to build scalable network applications and is commonly used for running web applications outside the client's browser. Node.js uses an event- driven, non-blocking I/O model, making it efficient for data-intensive real- time applications. It operates on a single-thread, allowing it to handle thousands of simultaneous event loops. Node.js is often used for building I/O intensive applications such as video streaming sites and online chatting applications. It can generate dynamic page content, create, open, read, write, delete, and close files on the server, collect form data, and manipulate data in a database. Node.js files contain tasks that will be executed on certain events and must be initiated on the server before having any effect. It is built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine and is suitable for both development and production environments