Sunil Rawat https://www.systematixinfotech.com 5m 1,201 #javascript
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Unquestionably, JavaScript is among the most preferred, widely used, and popular client-side programming languages. JavaScript is used as a front-end web development tool. It proves to be great for cross-platform development. Furthermore, it is immensely useful for other platforms such as React Native, Titanium, NativeScript, PhoneGap, Appcelerator, Apache, etc. If we analyze the current scenario, it is evident that JavaScript’s application has expanded to server-side programming as well. Node.js has been significant in bringing about this shift in web development. In this blog, we will talk about the good and bad aspects of Node.js development services. However, before we do that, it is prudent to have a quick introduction to Node.js.
Node.js – a brief
Node.js is JavaScript’s runtime environment helpful in JavaScript server-side code execution. It’s a cross-platform, open-source JavaScript that also helps in real-time network app development. Node.js provides event-driven input/output (I/O) APIs & asynchronous. Node.js is also helpful in interpreting JS code through the V8 JS engine of Google. Furthermore, Node.js operates on a single-threaded event-based-loop for making all executions non-blocking. But, Node.js can still not be considered as a framework because it doesn’t work with or support .NET, JAVA, or PHP.
Now that you know what Node.js is all about, it is time to understand the good and the bad of Node.js.
The Good
Before you hire a Node.js development company, have a look at the pros of Node.js development. So, here we go!
– Easy scalability: Scaling the Node.js apps in vertical as well as horizontal directions is quite easy compared to other app development platforms and languages. Developers like Node.js because they have to just add additional nodes to the current, existing system for scaling the app horizontally. Furthermore, Node.js also allows you to add extra resources to single nodes when you scale the app vertically. So, Node.js is highly scalable and offers a great option compared to other JS servers.
– Easy to learn: Being a popular programming language, JavaScript is something most front-end developers are well-versed in it. Hence, it is easier for these developers to learn and use Node.js as a backend tool. Learning Node.js is easier and takes very little time to master in.
– Used as a single programming language: Node.js provides the developers with the luxury and ease of coding server-side apps in JS. This allows the developers to code for the frontend as well as backend web apps in JS using a runtime environment. What’s more, they don’t even need to use another language for server-side programming. It also facilitates the web applications’ deployment as JavaScript is supported by almost all web browsers.
– Full-stack JS benefits: Regarded as a full-stack JS as it serves the client-side as well as the server-side apps. Hence, the good part of Node.js is that you do not need to hire a separate backend or frontend mobile app development company if you choose to build your app in Node.js. In other words, you end up saving a lot of time and money while ensuring you get great-performing apps.
– High performance: As we already discussed above, Node.js interprets the JS code through the V8 JS engine of Google. The engine compiles the JS code directly into machine code. As a result, effective implementation of the code gets faster and easier. The code execution is also sped up by the runtime environment because it supports the non-blocking input-output operations.
– Large, active, and ever-growing community: Node.js has a large, active, and continuously growing community of web and app developers who regularly contribute towards the improvement and development of this amazing platform. In fact, Node.js developers get support from JS programmers as well who provide easy and readymade solutions & codes. In the future, we may see many more Node.js developers and enhancements in this platform in the future.
– Caching: If you are looking to hire an open-source development company for your upcoming app development project, you must know that Node.js’ open-source runtime environment also offers caching facilities for single modules. As the request for the first module is received, it is automatically cached in the memory of the application. The developers do not need to re-execute the code because caching facilitates the loading of web pages faster and it responds to the users swiftly and instantly.
– Freedom to build apps: This is another great pro of using Node.js development services. It lets the developers build the apps as well as the software. This is a key feature that even Ruby on Rails is missing. You may start everything right from scratch when building the apps.
– Support for tools that are used commonly: Node.js allows developers to enjoy extended support for tools that are commonly used. For example, as a developer or tester, you may want to test the Node.js app’s source code. Now you can do it with the help of unit testing tools that are readily available.
– Requests can be handled simultaneously: As Node.js offers the option of non-blocking input-output systems, it helps developers process various requests simultaneously. The system is able to process concurrent requests efficiently and in a much better way than Ruby, Python, and other languages do. The incoming requests are lined up and get executed systematically and quickly.
– Extensible: One of the greatest qualities of Node.js that make it a popular choice among businesses looking for Node.js development service is its extensibility. The code being extensible is easy to customize and extend as needed.
The bad
Well, just like everything else in the world has good and bad aspects, Node.js to has a few cons that you need to know about before you decide to hire a Node.js or an open-source development company for your app development. These include:
– Unstable API: This is a key problem encountered by most Node.js developers. Its API doesn’t remain stable. As a result, developers have to keep changing the accessible codebases so they match the compatibility with Node.js API’s latest version.
– No strong library support system: The JS lacks in a well-equipped & robust library system compared to other languages. This results in the users being forced to take the common library’s support for executing different tasks such as ORM, handling database operations, image processing, XML parsing, and others.
– Programming model is asynchronous: If you want your app to be more scalable, you must adopt an asynchronous programming model. But most developers find it a challenge if we compare it with the linear-blocking input output programming.
Wrapping up
If we compare the good and the bad of Node.js, it is clear that the good outweighs the bad and that means Node.js is a great choice for you if you are looking for app development for your business. Hire a mobile app development company with Node.js expert resources to help you make the most of this amazing programming language for your ultimate business gain.
(
