Who Uses Node.js and What Makes It the Best Choice

Developed by Ryan Dahl, Node.js is a side server platform, i.e., a runtime environment and not a JavaScript framework as it can commonly be mistaken for. Node has simplified web application development to a great extent, thanks to the JS modules. 

The open-source runtime environment is meant for developing full-stack and networking applications, and because of its efficiency and light weightiness, it would handle pretty well even some of the really intensive real-time apps.

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Who uses node

JavaScript has become the go-to language for developing dynamic websites, and all of that was made possible only by Node. In fact, Node has contributed to JS’s popularity so much that some major players are using only JavaScript for their web development. 

Node.js is no stranger to the dev teams of the following companies, and in fact, it could be said that they are well-acquainted with the software.

• LinkedIn

The most popular business network on the internet had its mobile app running on Ruby on Rails; however, due to Node’s performance effectiveness and stability, they decided to change, and surely they haven’t changed their mind on the subject. 

When they changed to Node.js, Linkedin experienced a lot faster application on the client-side, leading to doubled traffic capacities and surprisingly lowering the preexisting 15 servers in use to only four. 

• Netflix

Netflix started the platform using Java and JavaScript. This required their web developers to be skilled in languages. Using Java on the back-end and JavaScript on the front-end doubled the work, i.e., the activity tracking, as well as the error handling and debugging, was much more difficult than now when Netflix operates on Node and uses JavaScript for both frontend and backend. 

One of the many advantages of Node.js is that now Netflix pages need just a couple of seconds to load, and let’s not forget that  Netflix is a streaming platform and totally depends on their site’s speed in order to keep the users happy.

• Uber

Completely relying on real-time software, it would be more of a surprise if Uber wasn’t using Node. A reliable system for both the passengers and drivers was the most important feature when Uber was deciding on what platform the app would be built. 

According to Kris Kowal, a Software Engineer at Uber the company chose Node.js from it’s beginning. 

“Uber chose Node. js to build its massive matching system due to its ability to keep up with the pace of Uber’s huge business needs and enhanced data processing capabilities. “Node. js is particularly well-suited to writing systems that have all their state in memory.”

Thanks to this decision and the power of Node.js, Uber can process more than two million procedure calls per second.

• Trello 

Another high-end project management tool enjoying the benefits of Node’s event-driven tech. Initially, the company only intended on using Node.js only on the server-side of the web application, but by the time they had finished the prototype, a decision was made that the best choice would be if they stuck to Node.js for the client-side as well. 

As a response to that, Trello is now trusted and used on a daily basis by more than 25 million people all around the world. 

• NASA

NASA uses Node.js to maintain the lives of the astronauts safe when they are on space expeditions. That would be the most important use of Node, and this shows how powerful, in fact, the environment really is.  

Before Node.js and the development of their own system, NASA had its data disseminated on various locations. It was only after an incident that they realized how dangerous that is and decided to go into the cloud. As a result, they now have only one database, and data access timelines reduced by 300%. 

Why is Node Used?

Node is used for its non-blocking I/O model and its single-threaded nature that allow the existence of fast event-driven servers. 

When using Node for both the frontend and the backend of a web application, you’ll see that the Node that is used as a back-end development environment has nothing to do with Node used as a front-end environment. In fact, Node.js has APIs to support front-end features that are insufficiently supported by front-end APIs, like HTTPS requests and file systems. 

Why Should You Choose Node.js?

Node.js is the one that helps people to overcome the barriers standing between the server-side and the client-side of a web application. Let’s have a look at what Node.js offers that can be found in any other environment.

• Uses JavaScript, which is easy to learn. However, Node.js is definitely meant for JavaScript beginners as it’s a low-level runtime environment
• It’s asynchronous and event-driven, with the non-blocking model allowing  the server to serve simultaneous requests
• Ensures easy scaling, as well as quick and on-time execution of the client requests
• Offers flexibility
• It can be used as a full-stack development solution
• Reduces the skills drastically requirements for developers while completely eliminating the need of leaning on additional technologies
• Node is very fast in code execution because of the fact that it’s built over Google’s V8 JavaScript Engine
• V8 compiles all JS-Node directly to machine code. 
• Node doesn’t require licensing because it’s open-sourced 
• Code sharing between the front-end and back-end makes the whole development process using Node a whole lot quicker 

The Bottom Line

The things we can do today with JavaScript running on the server rather than just on the web thanks to Node.js some years ago would be unimaginable. Most of those things are possible not only because of the existence of Node itself but also because JavaScript’s popularity has dramatically risen over the years. 

Node.js is the solution of the future that will not allow your application to become obsolete and outdated, but the convenient and straightway development will ease things out for other developers in terms of understanding code written and the app. 

Because of this particular reason, now is the chance to look out for node js developers for hire because once you have your application up and running on Node.js, then you’ll only need to maintain.