Node.js is a popular and versatile cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment. Node was the first runtime to allow developers to run JavaScript outside the browser, opening a new world of possibilities in server-side JavaScript. Its ease of use, massive ecosystem and performance characteristics have continued to secure its place as one of the most important technologies of the modern web.
Anytime you need to run JavaScript on the server—be it for a systems utility, a REST API, data processing, or anything else—Node is an excellent choice. There are newer runtimes, namely Deno and Bun, but Node remains the standard for server-side JavaScript.
Also see: 10 JavaScript concepts you need to succeed with Node.
Getting started with Node
If you haven’t already experienced Node, this article will introduce you. We’ll step through installing Node and the NPM package manager, spinning up a simple web server, and using the Node cluster module to take advantage of multiple CPU cores.
