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Invented in 2009, Node.JS is a cross-platform runtime environment. It is open source and the applications are written in Javascript. The arrival of Node.JS was certainly a revolutionary of sorts with its ability to develop real-time web applications that are fast, scalable and data driven. A Node.JS developer can use event driven programming model to build hugely scalable servers.

It is a known fact that Node.JS has been built on the Google V8 JavaScript engine. The reasons being that, V8, is an open source, focused on the web, and is extremely fast. Having said that, this completely free platform is mostly utilized for developing single page applications, video streaming sites and other web apps.

Features of Node.JS

  • Running the applications within the Node.JS runtime on Windows, Linux and also MAC OS X is possible without the need for any changes.
  • Even though multiple threads are used for network and file events, the application can run single threaded.
  • Library code packages can be shared very easily. The Node Package Manager has a collection of about 50,000 packages. Hence, a solution is packaged for you by other developers.
  • Node.JS releases the data in chunks. Hence, applications do not buffer any data.
  • Node platform's global objects are obtainable in all modules. They are functions, strings and objects itself. Without including them in the application, they can be put to use directly.
  • Streams are objects that allow to read data from a source. Also, streams enable writing data to a destination. Readable, writeable, duplex and transform are the types of streams.
  • Emitting and binding of callbacks to events is possible with eventemitter, which is a class. Event based classes and applications can be built.
  • Around POSIX functions, file I/O is implemented employing simple wrappers. Every method has synchronous and asynchronous form.
  • Node.JS is bundled with Read Eval Print Loop or REPL. It reads and parses the user's input into the JavaScript data structure. And then stores in the memory. Eval is the short form of Evaluate. Obviously it evaluates the data structure. Print, prints the result. Loop, loops the command until such time the user presses ctrl+c two times.

Reasons for creating real-time applications using Node.JS

Before to working on Node.JS, fundamental understanding of concepts in JavaScript, HTML, CSS and AJAX can be an advantage. The major reasons for creating real-time applications with Node.JS is that this framework uses non-blocking I/O model and is event driven. Hence, becoming lightweight and efficient and thereby helping to create data-intensive real-time applications.

Likewise, there are multiple other reasons for creating cutting-edge real-time applications using Node.JS. Let us know a little more about them. Typical real-time applications like chat can be efficiently built using Node.JS. This platform is also highly suitable for games because event loop manages the multi-user requirement. The socket.IO plays a major role in the development of real-time applications. Socket.IO library offers real-time transport between the web browser and Node.JS server.

Conclusion: The coming days will see a significant rise in the use of Node.JS. The demand for it is already prevalent, owing to increased colloboration between people on the real-time basis, thereby increasing the need for real-time applications. Hence, with a basic knowledge of JavaScript, it would be ideal for any individual to try out Node.JS.