Why Write Your Backend Web Application In NodeJS?

Sector: Technology

Author: Hemant Kumar

Date Published: 11/14/2018

Why Write Your Backend Web Application In NodeJS

People often misinterpret NodeJS to be a programming language. However, you should note, that it is neither a framework nor a language, or even a library. It is actually a runtime environment, allowing the developers to execute JavaScript on the side of the server. Presently, numerous established companies like LinkedIn, Netflix, Walmart, and Groupon are using NodeJS in their backend.

What is NodeJS suitable for?

The business goals of an organization should be placed at the forefront, before deciding how NodeJS will be integrated into the web application. Leading business firms across the globe are collaborating with established mobile app developers to build dedicated programs using NodeJS. It has been developed on V8, an open-source JavaScript engine. JavaScript continues to be one of the most extensively used programming languages, revolving around client requirements in web development tools.

With NodeJS, the development process becomes simplified and the performance gets a lift. As it is capable of tackling multiple requests and you can smoothly scale it, it is also a great choice for API building.

Key Business Applications Of NodeJS

Currently, around 0.4% of the websites with known web servers are using NodeJS. Among these, popular sites are Healthline.com, Dictionary.com, and Flickr.com. Have a look at the key business benefits of the various applications of NodeJS.

  1. Written code is compatible with multiple platforms
  2. You can execute it locally, and NodeJS is easy to install
  3. Rapid MVP (minimum viable product) delivery
  4. Great performance
  5. Fast native buildings
  6. The tight connection between server and client
  7. Goes well with open source modules and packages
  8. Cloud scaling
  9. Cheap hosting
  10. Lightweight service

Reasons Why NodeJS is a must for Backend Web Application Development

When choosing the back-end development technologies — NodeJS stands as an ideal option as it holds the great majority of contemporary business domains as well as real cases.

NodeJS differentiates it from the rest of the framework, as it allows executing JavaScript on the Server Side.

The NodeJS 2016 User Survey stated Javascript as the utmost prevalent programming language with 7 million users as well as an annual growth rate of 100%.

This undoubtedly shows that each front-end developers are aware of this language, hereafter when it comes to shifting to using NodeJS at the back-end, developers can benefit from all the pros of full-stack JavaScript development.

This means the time and effort required to learn and work automatically get reduced.

Walmart, LinkedIn, Uber, NASA, and some other huge entities have used this open-source, straightforward, and easy-to-customize environment for their web applications.

Advantages Of Using NodeJS For Web Application Development

The developers have already used NodeJS in more than 96,819 domains and 187,467 websites. As per data from SimilarTech, Node JS is most popular in the US – almost 36,000+ websites use it. The fast suit and easy coding features of NodeJS are among several factors leading to this rapid integration. Here are some of the advantages of using it for the development of web applications.

NodeJs usage by websites across the globe

1. Real-time Apps For Your Business

The developers use Node JS to create real-time mobile and web apps at high speed. When you deal with real-time apps with multi-user capabilities for gaming and chat apps, NodeJS can be the perfect solution. The process of synchronization is well-organized and fast, as both the server and client sides drive the architecture of the apps. As it runs on the V8 engine integrating JavaScript into machine code, the speed is optimized. Therefore, the developers are spared from the hassles in creating separate threads, as it uses the event loop or single thread to deal with the I/O operations.

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2. Streaming Data

The app builders consider the request and response of HTTP in web app development to be separate events. These are actually data streams and one can use the function along with Node JS to come up with great attributes. For instance, these may include cutting down the overall process duration, processing files simultaneously while loading, and so on. These can be implemented when an audio or video is recorded in real-time.

3. Hosting

With a greater number of web app developers demanding Node JS for their projects, hosting has gained impetus to a significant extent. Platform as a Service (PaaS) service providers like Heroku and Modulus are officially permitting node deployments without any issue. Apart from this, it includes an open-source community, delivering outstanding modules, that make NodeJS applications more powerful. Among these Socket.io is a popular module handling constant interaction between the server and the client. The server can send real-time updates through push notifications to the clients.

4. Increasing Productivity

The reputed web app developers are inclined towards using NodeJS in the apps, as it has been constantly pushing up the effectiveness of these programs. Various enterprises have already embraced dedicated mobile apps developed in this environment. As JavaScript is used to develop the NodeJS programs, the gap between backend and frontend developers are entirely divided.

Disadvantages Of NodeJS

1. Unstable API

One of the most significant downsides reported by NodeJS users is the frequent API changes. At times, a new API appears to have a number of backward-incompatible changes. Unfortunately, this forces them to frequently change the access code to match in sync with the newest version of NodeJS API.

2. More Development Time

The point that NodeJS is without any strong opinion can also be seen as a downside by some developers. Ruby on Rails runs you with a lot of guidelines from a new install as well as guides you into their way of doing things, but with NodeJS you need to write all from scratch. It might outcome in shrinkage in productivity.

3. Not Suitable for Heavy-Computing Apps

As we know NodeJS is considered single-threaded, because it processes JavaScript. Heavy computations block the incoming requests, which can lead to a decrease in performance.

Whenever a heavy request comes to the event loop, NodeJS would set all the CPU available to process it first, and then answer other requests queued.

That outcomes in slow processing as well as inclusive delay in the event loop, which is why NodeJS is not recommended for heavy computation.

4. Immaturity of Tools

As NodeJS is mostly an open-source ecosystem, numerous tools have not been supervised and so they might lack the quality and fail at meeting coding standards. Npm’s structure makes it harder to spot reliable packages.

5. Callback hell issue

Due to its asynchronous nature, NodeJS depend heavily on callbacks, the functions that run after apiece task in the queue are finished. It’s a situation where callbacks are nested within other callbacks several levels deep, potentially making it difficult to understand and maintain the code.

6. Lack of Library Support

JavaScript doesn’t have a well-equipped and robust library system compared to different programming languages.

As a result, users are forced to require the support of a common library for executing various tasks like Object-Relational Mapping (ORM), the process of the pictures, handling database operations, and XML parsing, etc.

Best Uses of NodeJS

  1. Chat Server
  2. API On Top Of an Object Db
  3. Queued Inputs
  4. Data Streaming
  5. Brokerage – Stock Trader’s Dashboard
  6. Application Monitoring Dashboard
  7. Real-time apps
  8. Video conference apps
  9. Instant-messaging, live-chat apps
  10. Highly scalable apps
  11. E-commerce transaction software and online gaming apps
  12. Server-side applications

Wrapping Up

In case you are aiming to develop a streaming app based on real-time updates, the NodeJS capabilities will definitely streamline the app. Besides, you may be having concurrent connections like virtual terminal emulators, multiplayer games, social media, and messaging apps. Get across to the reputed NodeJS developers to develop NodeJS programs for your business. Remaining technically forward is one of the prime strategies to stay competitive in your business.

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