Introduction to Node.js

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine. It allows you to run JavaScript on the server side, making it possible to build full-stack applications with a single language.

What Makes Node.js Special?

• Event-driven, non-blocking I/O: Highly efficient for I/O-intensive applications
• Single-threaded: Uses an event loop for handling concurrent operations
• NPM Ecosystem: Largest package ecosystem in the world
• Cross-platform: Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Getting Started

First, install Node.js from the official website. Then create a simple server:

const http = require("http");

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": "text/plain" });
  res.end("Hello World!");
});

server.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log("Server running on port 3000");
});

Popular Node.js Frameworks

• Express.js: Minimal and flexible web framework
• Koa.js: Next-generation framework by Express team
• NestJS: Progressive Node.js framework for scalable applications
• Fastify: Fast and low overhead web framework

Node.js has revolutionized server-side development and continues to be a popular choice for modern applications.