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Questions tagged [node.js]

Node.js is an event-based, asynchronous I/O framework that uses Google's V8 JavaScript engine.

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Node.js is an event-based, asynchronous I/O framework that uses Google's V8 JavaScript Engine.

Node.js — or just Node, as it's commonly called — is used for developing applications that make heavy use of the ability to run JavaScript both on the client, as well as on server side and therefore benefit from the re-usability of code and the lack of context switching.

It's also possible to use matured JavaScript frameworks like YUI and jQuery for server-side DOM manipulation.

To ease the development of complex JavaScript further, Node.js supports the CommonJS standard that allows for modularized development and the distribution of software in packages via the Node Package Manager.

Applications that can be written using Node.js include, but are not limited to:

  • Static file servers
  • Web Application frameworks
  • Messaging middleware
  • Servers for HTML5 multi player games

When asking questions about Node.js, you should:

  1. Make sure to check the official API documentation before asking, your question might be trivial.
  2. Isolate the problem and reproduce it with as little code as possible, if you can also use an online tool like JSApp for that, it's even better.
  3. If the question has nothing to do with anything that's Node.js specific, please consider asking it as a question instead.
  4. Mention which version of Node.js you are running. When in doubt, use node -v.
  5. Make sure to only use the tag, since is ambiguous.

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What are the drawbacks of making a multi-threaded JavaScript runtime implementation?

I've been working on a multi-threaded JavaScript runtime implementation for the past week. I have a proof of concept made in C++ using JavaScriptCore and boost. The architecture is simple: when the runtime finishes evaluating the main script it…
voodooattack
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What is So Unique About Node.js?

Recently there has been a lot of praise for Node.js. I am not a developer that has had much exposure to network application. From my bare understanding of Nodes.js, its strength is: we have only one thread handling multiple connections, providing…
Adrian Shum
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Learning Erlang vs learning node.js

I see a lot of crap online about how Erlang kicks node.js' ass in just about every conceivable category. So I'd like to learn Erlang, and give it a shot, but here's the problem. I'm finding that I have a much harder time picking up Erlang than I…
Noli
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Is Node.js a framework?

I keep seeing recruiters, developers, etc. refer to Node.js as a framework. In my opinion, this is out of ignorance for what Node.js really is. Oftentimes, in job descriptions, Node.js is grouped in as a library among AngularJS, React, etc.…
ndugger
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The importance of Design Patterns with Javascript, NodeJs et al

With Javascript appearing to be the ubiquitous programming language of the web over the next few years, new frameworks popping up every five minutes and event driven programming taking a lead both server and client side: Do you as a Javascript…
Lewis
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Optional dependencies in npm?

I have a similar question to this, but not quite the same. I would like for the user of my app to install it with whatever dependencies are needed for the way he would want to use it. So, for example, if they want to persist to MongoDB, then only…
imiric
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Methods of separating front and back-end with full stack javascript?

Suppose I have a front-end which is mostly a single-page application written using angular, grunt, and bower. And suppose I have a backend, which is mostly just a REST API sitting on top of an ORM, which stores/retrieves objects from a database,…
FrobberOfBits
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How to implement a message queue over Redis?

Why Redis for queuing? I'm under the impression that Redis can make a good candidate for implementing a queueing system. Up until this point we've been using our MySQL database with polling, or RabbitMQ. With RabbitMQ we've had many problems - the…
djechlin
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What determines which Javascript functions are blocking vs non-blocking?

I have been doing web-based Javascript (vanilla JS, jQuery, Backbone, etc.) for a few years now, and recently I've been doing some work with Node.js. It took me a while to get the hang of "non-blocking" programming, but I've now gotten used to using…
Sean
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Is there a good reason to avoid node.js for non-realtime web apps?

I've seen a lot of talk about how awesome Node.js is for realtime web apps -- things that need sockets, Comet, AJAX-heavy communications, and so forth. I know that its event-driven, asynchronous, thread-driven model is also good for concurrency with…
Paul d'Aoust
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Novice to node.js, what is the advantage gained using callbacks over events?

I am a novice JavaScripter and have no real knowledge of what goes on inside the V8 engine. Having said that, I am really enjoying my early forays into the node.js environment but I find that I am constantly using events.EventEmitter() as a means to…
Jog
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We have a large Ruby on Rails application (25 million monthly users), our management decided to rewrite in Node.js, am I crazy?

Please tell me if: Node.js will make our site faster! Node.js will consume fewer server resources, we can save money! Node.js will make us more productive! Node.js means we can share client and server side JavaScript code. To clarify, we're…
user88487
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How is Node.js different from other server-side frameworks?

I've noticed that Node.js has become very popular, and I've seen several instances of people doing small-scale projects in it. I've also looked at pros and cons lists to get an idea of what Node.js can do, but I'm still not clear on how it differs…
Saeed Neamati
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Does Node.js actually increase scalability?

I've been reading about the C10K Problem, and of particular note is the part that refers to asynchronous server I/O. http://www.kegel.com/c10k.html#aio I believe this pretty much summarises what Node.js does on the server, by allowing threads to…
Alex
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Certifications for Javascript developers?

I'm looking for a solid and but fast paced entry in field of javascript development. The following topics come to my mind: Javascript advanced concepts, OOP jQuery, jQuery-UI, jQuery-Mobile backbone.js node.js BDD and/or TDD The courses of…
vbd
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