Using Freshworks apps? Check out what we can do for you! Learn More

Back

What’s Intriguing about Node.js Development & How it Helps in Enterprise Application Development?

Why NodeJS for Enterprise App Development - TechAffinity

In recent years, companies like LinkedIn, Walmart, eBay have been using NodeJS development to build their apps. When there are so many technologies available in the market, you may wonder, why NodeJS? There are many compelling reasons, but scalability and high performance make it a good option for developing scalable enterprise applications. NodeJS as a platform maintains quality standards for business operations, grows employee connections, and secures data confidentiality. The server environment comes as a significant relief during the development of the NodeJS application. Due to these factors, NodeJS has been growing at a rapid rate in the past few years.

Rise of NodeJS - TechAffinity
Source: NPM Trends

Let’s take a look at NodeJS development, its evolution over the years, how it grew into a dominant force in the market, the benefits of NodeJS, factors leading to the growth of this platform, and ultimately why it is being preferred by major companies around the world.

What is NodeJS?

According to Wikipedia, “NodeJS is an open-source, cross-platform, JavaScript runtime environment that executes JavaScript code outside a web browser.” Since it is based on JavaScript, you can use JavaScript in NodeJS to write command-line tools that run server-side scripts. As a result, dynamic web page content is produced even before the web page is sent to the client’s web browser.

You can build real-time web apps with NodeJS by taking advantage of push technology applied over WebSockets. Also, it uses asynchronous programming (from JavaScript), which is one among many reasons why the developer community chooses NodeJS for enterprise app development.

Built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine, this server environment works on a non-blocking, data-driven I/O model, which renders it effective, scalable, and lightweight. NodeJS represents a “JavaScript everywhere” paradigm, bringing web application development under a single programming language for the server as well as client-side scripts.

It has led to the transformation of an outdated practice based on the stateless web and request-response protocol. The importance of NodeJS lies in the fact that we are now in the realm of real-time web applications with two-way communication. Now, both servers and clients can interact by exchanging the data freely. Earlier, only the client had permission to initiate the process.

A Brief History of NodeJS

Ryan Dahl introduced NodeJS at the inaugural European JSConf in November 2009. The initial release supported only Linux and Mac OS X. Its development and maintenance were led by Dahl and later sponsored by Joyent. NodeJS combined Google’s V8 JavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript, often abbreviated as JS, is a high-level, interpreted scripting language that conforms to the ECMAScript specification. JavaScript has curly-bracket syntax, dynamic typing, prototype-based object-orientation, and first-class functions. engine, an event loop, and a low-level I/O API.

A package manager, npm, was introduced for the NodeJS environment in January 2010. The package manager made it easier for programmers to publish and share the source code of NodeJS packages and designed to simplify installation, updating, and uninstallation of packages.

Initially, NodeJS was sponsored as an open-source project by cloud and hosting solutions provider Joyent. In June 2011, Microsoft and Joyent implemented a native Windows version of NodeJS.The release of the first NodeJS build supporting Windows was in July 2011. After 3 years, in December 2014, Fedor Indutny started io.js, a fork of NodeJS.

In February 2015, there was an announcement to form a neutral NodeJS Foundation. By June 2015, the NodeJS and io.js communities voted to work together under the NodeJS Foundation. As of 2016, the io.js website recommended that developers switch back to NodeJS. No further release of io.js was possible due to the merge. In 2019, the JS Foundation and NodeJS Foundation merged to form the OpenJS Foundation.

As a back-end application, the NodeJS app was first picked up by LinkedIn for the development of its enterprise application platform. Seeing the success of this platform, many other companies like Netflix and Uber also adopted it.

So what is it that separates NodeJS development from the rest?

The difference is that not only the startups, but some established companies had started adopting it from the early stages. It helped in NodeJS’ fast growth and adoption as an enterprise application platform. This made it easier for NodeJS to grow and consolidate its position as the best JavaScript runtime environment over the years.

Benefits of NodeJS
  • Bridging the divide between front-end and back-end development.
  • Fast execution of code in other languages.
  • The quick development of real-time apps.
  • Coding in JavaScript for server-side as well as client-side.
  • A perfect solution for [https://techaffinity.com/blog/glossary/microservices/”]microservices[/post_tooltip] in enterprises.
  • Increased efficiency of web app development.

Also Read: 9 Best NodeJS Frameworks for API & Web Development

Unmissable Stats About NodeJS
  • According to a NodeJS User Survey, 43% of NodeJS programmers use it to build enterprise apps, with a majority of them, working for Fortune 500 companies.
  • 70% of companies around the globe believe NodeJS increases developer productivity.
  • 58% of the total development time around the world is spent in NodeJS
Reasons Behind the Emergence of NodeJS
1. High Performance & Scalability

NodeJS runs on multiple OS and is known for its express speed. It is written in C, C++, JavaScript and built upon the V8 engine of Google Chrome. Both V8 and NodeJS get new security features, undergo performance optimization, and obtain the support of modern JavaScript features. NodeJS has the advantage of managing multiple simultaneous connections with the utmost efficiency due to its event-driven and single-threaded architecture.

While other platforms generate extra threads for every new request, NodeJS operates on the single thread using the callbacks and the event loop for the I/O operations. Thus it saves a lot of RAM and manages thousands and even million connections.

It is also scalable from its very first point of implementation. It has advanced features such as cluster modules and PM2 process manager. The cluster modules help in accomplishing load balancing across several CPU cores. The PM2 process manager makes processes like monitoring, optimizing, and deploying NodeJS applications easy.

2. Cross-Functional Team

A cross-functional team comprises members who are willing to work together, and each member is responsible for every phase of development. Based on the agile methodology, every member contributes to the solution by providing their unique perspective. This style of work is popular in startups due to the lack of workforce and is a breeding ground for innovation, agility, and enhanced collaboration.

NodeJS works wonderfully well for cross-functional teams. Based on JavaScript, it can serve as a bridge between front-end and back-end development. Hence, you can work as a full-stack developer without having to learn any additional languages. By doing so,  some parts of the application will get better attention on the client end, and some parts higher focus on the server-side.

3. The Node Package Manager

The node package manager (npm) has an enterprise version which deals with the security and privacy concerns of the big enterprises. It consists of small open-source software called modules. The developers install, update, and utilize them according to their needs. You don’t need to write these features from scratch, resulting in reduced levels of complexity.

The npm solves another problem for any large enterprise, which is storing their data securely in the cloud. With npm enterprise, you get to run the entire npm infrastructure behind the company’s firewall. Consequently, it enables enterprises to gain access to the private registry and other high-level security features. Companies can thus identify vulnerabilities, control code access, and automate the replacement of flawed codes.

4. Long Term Support

The rise and fall of technology are frequent in the IT industry. In some cases, the technologies decline even before entering the long-term support (LTS). Developers find it difficult to build and maintain an app written in an outdated language. NodeJS development emerges as the first choice in such a scenario. According to the NodeJS user survey report of 2018, 61% of the developers consider the LTS (long term support) feature of NodeJS important.

Long Term Support of NodeJS - TecchAffinity

The consistency in the timeline helps in planning better for the future development of your apps and how to go about adding new features. From the time of build, major NodeJS releases are maintained for at least 18 months as LTS.  Subsequently, you have a maintenance period of at least 12 months. During this phase, the team implements all the security patches and bug fixes.

5. Cross-Platform Development

NodeJS lets you build [https://techaffinity.com/blog/glossary/cross-platform/”]cross-platform[/post_tooltip] desktop apps on platforms like NW.js or Electron. You can reuse some parts of the code from the web app to the desktop version for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The team working on the web application can work on the desktop version without any expert knowledge on Objective C, C#, and other languages for native apps.

You can access tools such as Google Chrome Developer Tools which allows you to debug apps and profile the desktop versions of the apps more efficiently on the client-side apps. These tools are cross-platform and you don’t need a Windows machine for Windows apps, or a Mac to debug, build, and write a macOS app.

6. Simple Learning Curve

Based on JavaScript, NodeJS development has a simple learning curve. You can learn it very quickly as the syntax of the two resembles each other a lot. For this reason, Java and .NET developers welcome it. You can learn it and build scalable apps without breaking much sweat. Whether you are a pro or a beginner, it is for everyone who wants to build web apps at an express pace.

7. Microservices Pattern

All projects start small. Some might prefer to begin with an MVP release. With time, it might gradually expand with the addition of new features and user expectations. Before you know, you might have a complex project in hand, and resources might not be sufficient. Dealing with such a complex scenario is a nightmare for any large enterprise. The solution to this lies in the microservices pattern.

Microservice is nothing but a single self-contained unit, which is a constituent of a big application. You can divide your app into fragments, which helps in scaling and deploying them independently. Also, you can seek the help of different teams and programming languages in developing and testing your apps.

Moreover, you can run different teams that would work independently on various pieces of the same application. A smaller group is relatively easier to manage. Further, you don’t need to deploy the whole codebase each time you make changes to any fragment of the app.

Final Thoughts

NodeJS is here to stay. It is considered one of the best platforms when it comes to enterprise application development. NodeJS is best for back-end services, and you can use it to build highly-scalable, and cross-platform applications. It uses fewer lines of code, fewer resources, and delivers better performance. With such features, NodeJS development keeps growing at a steady pace and it is a good platform for any enterprise looking into the future.

We, at TechAffinity, have developers with expertise in full-stack development and delivering the best services to you. If you have any queries regarding enterprise application development, share them with media@techaffinity.com, or schedule a meeting with our experts.

Subscribe to Our Blog

Stay updated with latest news, updates from us