JavaScript is one of the popular languages for the Web development, but it was restricted to the browser. “Node.js “ allows you to move a step beyond and uses JavaScript for shell scripting, server side scripting , and more.

Brief history of Node.js

“Ryan Dahl” created “Node.js” in 2009. Node.js has become very popular these days and used by many of the large organizations including Yahoo!, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Paypal, Walmart,etc.

Node

 

How Node.js works:

“Node.js” allow developers to build network applications using JavaScript language. Though there is extensive add-on software built on Node for Web development, it is not restricted. You can also develop command line utilities, stand-alone applications and server based software using Node.

Node consists of two main components:

  • The JavaScript Engine
  • The Web Server

The JavaScript Engine gives high performance, finely tunes Google’s V8 engine. A web server embedded in Node makes it attractive for developing applications for HTTP clients such as browsers.

Node takes JavaScript to a new dimension by adding the file system access functionality. Such functionality was not available in JavaScript, as it was restricted to running in the browser sandbox.