It’s been more than 10 years since Node.js appeared on the scene.
In that time, it’s proven both supporters and detractors wrong about many things, far surpassing perhaps anyone’s expectations about what Node.js could become.
Today, Node is widely adopted among not just the Fortune500 companies, but in nearly every sector of the business world where web software plays a role.
Node.js users now include:
- Paypal
- Netflix
- Amazon
- And many more
The software agency I founded, Programming Renegades, is strongly committed to Node.js, and endorses it strongly for any web development projects.
Here are the areas where Node.js tops expectations.
Improvise. Adapt.
Node.js To The Rescue
Remember when high performance on the web meant using Java or a JVM programming language?
Many industry commentators might have expected Node.js to peter out given its radical departures from convetions:
- Node.js used a single-threaded event loop
- It was written in JavaScript, and everyone knows JavaScript is a joke, right?
- Node.js was uber buggy, the king of bugs and performance issues basically
In reality, the growing pains that Node.js went through highlighted important areas the technology had to get right. Stability and documentation, better error diagnosing, and enterprise features, were all critical tasks that the platform lacked at first.
That’s all different now. Node.js is particularly strong for:
- real-time web applications
- media streaming services
- data-intensive apps
- consumer web apps
- enterprise apps
- and more…
An Ecosystem Good Enough To Rival Any In The Software World
For me, what makes Node.js a particularly good fit for any kind of web development is just how comprehensive and vast the Node.js ecosystem is.
Using the Node Package Manager (npm), you have access to thousands and thousands of open source modules developed by Node developers around the world.
Need an authentication plugin?
There’s thousands to choose from.
Need an integration with a database?
Here, take a look at all the options!
Need a salad and steak to go with that?
Well, Node is sure to have something for you too!
If you don’t have the time nor the patience to write your own middleware and modules for every single app your team works on, and, tbh, most teams don’t, then Node.js should be a near-default selection for web apps.
So how has Node stood up to expectations?
Slowly but surely, Node is now blowing all expectations straight out the water.
It’s Node or perish (I see you Rubyists and Pythonistas!)
About Ten Mutunhire and Programming Renegades
Ten Mutunhire, founder of Programming Renegades, is a Machine Learning and Fullstack Node.js Developer. Programming Renegades is the world’s first software development agency to be offered by complete Programming Renegades. We use JavaScript and Python almost exclusively, and we focus on web apps (no mobile) and machine learning. See our plans and contact us here.
These are the technologies we work with most:
Node.js and React
- Node.js
- Express.js
- React
- Vue.js
- JavaScript
- CoffeeScript
Machine Learning
- Python
- numpy
- scikit-learn
- TensorFlow
- Flask
- Keras
Our founder, Ten Mutunhire, a Programming Renegade himself, is also available for keynote speeches and tech speaking engagements. Ten’s areas of focus are tips for improving developer/team productivity and happiness, and other high performance strategies for tech teams. For speaking requests, contact us here