Introduction on Features of Node.js

Today we will be learning about the features of Node.js which allows us to create real-time based, highly scalable data-intensive applications. How the asynchronous working makes it easier for the user to have access over the data.

Also, we will look into the event-driven concept and walk through the Event module, its EventEmitter class with its methods. Learn how Node.js achieves extremely high performance while operating through a single thread. Callback functions concept which allows users to run applications without a buffer.

Top Features of Node.js

First, let us list down the features of Node.js and later understand them in detail:

1. Single Threaded

Node.js operates on a single thread. It is based on the “Single Threaded Event Loop Model” architecture which can handle multiple client requests. The main event loop is executed by a single thread, but in the background, the input-output work is performed on separate threads; as Node API’s input-output operation is asynchronous (non-blocking design) in order to accommodate the Event Loop. Event Loop is what allows the node.js to perform all the non-blocking operations.

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2. Asynchronous

Node.js is asynchronous by default, i.e it operates in a non-blocking way. Meaning, when a client requests a server, a single thread handles the request; it checks if the request involves any database interaction if it does not; the request is processed and the server sends back the response to the client. The thread is ready to handle the next request.

3. Event Driven

The event-driven concept is similar to the concept of callback function in asynchronous programming. The only difference is that callback function executes once the asynchronous function returns its result and events are triggered on its associated event handler. Node provides a module called “Event” which consists of an “EventEmitter” class that gives us the privilege to implement event-driven programming. An Event handler is a function that is called when an event is triggered. A main loop listens to the event triggers and then calls the corresponding event handler.

EventEmitter consists of various methods, one of which is the emit(); that fires an event. Emit() has the first argument as the name of the event and the next arguments are used to pass data. The on() methods listens to the event that is emitted and executes it. Event-driven programming makes Node pretty fast and gives high performance.

4. Open Source

Node.js is an open-source, which in simple terms means that it is free to use. We can install Node.js from https://nodejs.org/en/ according to our platform.

5. Performance

Node.js is built on Google Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine, which helps us in faster code execution. The engine compiles the JavaScript code into machine code which makes our code easier and faster to implement in an effective manner. Concepts like asynchronous programming and the way it operates on non-blocking input-output operations make its performance high. Node.js uses events highly which makes it pretty fast.

6. Highly Scalable

Node.js applications are highly scalable as they operate on an asynchronous (non-blocking) way. Node.js works on Single thread, where the time when a single request arrives, it starts processing it and is ready to handle the next request. Also, once the response is prepared, it is sent back to the client.

7. Node Package Manager(NPM)

As we are familiar, the Node Package Manager is a package manager for Node JavaScript runtime environment and is a recommended feature of Node.js installer. It is the world’s largest online repository. It also looks after the management of the local dependencies of our project. It has nearby 50,000 – 80,000 of packages in its public online repository.

8. No Buffering

Due to the callback function concept, Node.js application output the data in blocks. Thus, the user receives the data more easily and ready, as it does not have to wait for the entire operation to complete. It cuts down the overall time needed for processing, E.g: while uploading audio or video files. They never buffer any data.

A callback function is a function that is passed to another function as an argument, the first parameter passed to a callback function is err, which is checked when something goes wrong; whereas the second parameter in the callback function is used to pass the data. Additional arguments can be passed to the callback function to pass the data.

9. Caching

Node.js holds a pretty good advantage of caching. It supports the caching of modules. When a Node.js module is requested for the first time, it is cached into the application memory. We will not be required to re-execute the codes as caching allows the application to load the web pages faster and respond with ease to the user.

10. License

Node.js is licensed under MIT license.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Node.js

Let’s have a quick look at the pros and cons of Node.js:

Advantages

Open Source
High Scalability
Seamless JSON support
High performance
Memory Efficient
Highly Extensible
Advantage of Caching
FullStack JavaScript
Server development
Can be used to develop data-intensive applications
Support of large and active community

Disadvantages

Inability to process CPU bound
Call back hell issue
Application Programming Interface is not stable
Performance bottlenecks with heavy computation

Conclusion

Thus, we overlooked through the features of node.js, how node being open source is readily available for everyone to use. The approach of asynchronous programming and the event-driven concept of Node.js makes it faster and gives high performance. We also had a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of Node.js. Acknowledged how Node.js can be used to develop real-time, highly scalable data-intensive applications is not capable of performing CPU-bound heavy computation tasks.

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