Node.js runs JavaScript on the server on the V8 engine with an event-driven, non-blocking model, which suits chat, streaming, real-time dashboards and the REST APIs behind single-page applications. One language across client and server is the practical reason many of our products run on it.
Our expertise in Node.js enables us to create lightning-fast web applications with seamless user experiences. We leverage modern front-end technologies like React, Angular, or Vue.js to deliver visually stunning and responsive interfaces.
Take control of your content with our Node.js-powered Content Management Systems (CMS). Our custom solutions feature intuitive admin interfaces, making it effortless to manage and update your website or application content.
Create robust and scalable RESTful APIs with Node.js. Our APIs are designed with performance, security, and ease of integration in mind. Clear documentation ensures that developers can seamlessly work with your APIs.
In practice
Linkedin, NASA and Netflix are built with Node.js.
The technology
Node.js is an open source, event driven JavaScript runtime environment and library. Unlike most JavaScript libraries and frameworks used for building frontend web applications, Node.js is a server-side framework used to build backend services that support both web and mobile applications as well as other backend functionality such as integrations or notification services.
Node.js is built for speed. First, it runs on the V8 JavaScript engine, the same engine that powers the Chrome browser. Next, Node.js has an asynchronous, event-driven architecture, meaning that it processes operations based on events rather than in a predetermined sequence and, if an operation takes time to complete or requires additional data, Node.js creates a “callback” that waits for that operation to finish while allowing other operations to proceed in the meantime.
Node.js is a powerful and versatile runtime environment for building server-side applications. It’s a good choice for a software product in various scenarios, depending on your project requirements and goals. Here are some situations where Node.js is a good choice.
Real-Time Applications. Node.js excels in building real-time applications like chat applications, online gaming, collaboration tools, and live streaming platforms. Its event-driven model makes it well-suited for handling concurrent connections efficiently.
Streaming Applications. Node.js is well-suited for applications that involve streaming data, such as video streaming, file uploads/downloads, or real-time analytics dashboards.
Node.js can be used to build IoT applications and handle data from sensors and devices due to its low memory footprint and event-driven architecture.
Cross-Platform Desktop Applications. You can use frameworks like Electron to build cross-platform desktop applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with Node.js handling the backend logic.
Node.js is suitable for rapid prototyping and development of MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) due to its ease of use and quick setup.
Node.js is a great choice for building microservices-based architectures. Its lightweight nature allows you to create small, independent services that can communicate with each other via APIs. This makes it easier to scale and maintain your software.
Single-Page Applications (SPAs). Node.js can be used as a backend for SPAs developed with frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js. It provides a consistent JavaScript environment on both the client and server sides, which can simplify development.
RESTful APIs. If your software product needs to provide RESTful APIs to serve data to front-end applications or other services, Node.js is a popular choice. The Express.js framework is commonly used to build RESTful APIs quickly.
DevOps and Automation. Node.js is valuable for creating automation scripts, tools, and command-line interfaces (CLIs) for various DevOps tasks and system administration.
Node.js has a large and active community, which means you can find a wide range of open-source packages and libraries (npm modules) to accelerate development.
However, Node.js might not be the best choice for every scenario. It may not be ideal for CPU-intensive tasks or applications that require multi-threading, as Node.js runs in a single-threaded event loop. For such scenarios, you might consider other languages or runtimes like Python, Java, C++, or Ruby On Rails. If you’re considering Node.js and Ruby on Rails specifically, we invite you to read our recent comparison in a blog post. Ultimately, the choice of a development team for your software product should be based on a careful assessment of your project’s specific requirements and your team’s expertise.
Node.js is a popular JavaScript runtime that is commonly used by a wide range of companies, both large and small, across various industries. Here are some notable companies and organizations that have used Node.js:
Linkedin. The mobile backend of LinkedIn was one of the early, notable adoptions of Node.js, which they chose for its scalability and performance.
NASA. They moved their Enterprise Environmental System, a critical system for space launches, to a web-based platform with Node.js, resulting in improved access times and reliability.
Netflix. The world’s leading Internet television network moved its website frontend to Node.js, noting startup performance improvements as a key factor.
Groupon. Transitioned their web and mobile traffic to their new platform backed by Node.js to deliver real-time updates and improve user experience.
PayPal. They revamped their web applications to use Node.js. It resulted in faster rendering times and greater developer productivity.
Shutterstock. The server side of the official Shutterstock API, which handles image searches and transactions, is written in Node.js.
IBM. IBM has adopted Node.js for various purposes, including IoT (Internet of Things) applications and serverless computing on its cloud platform.
Walmart. To handle its vast mobile traffic, Walmart’s mobile app uses Node.js.
Ebay. eBay uses Node.js in certain parts of its platform, leveraging its speed and scalability for real-time features.
Uber. The massive ride-sharing platform uses Node.js in its matching system, taking advantage of its event-driven, non-blocking I/O model for real-time processing.
Enterprise and consumer web applications, from product strategy and design through backend, data and operations.
Responsive design, single-page and progressive web applications, JavaScript frameworks and CMS theming.
Custom backends, API development and integration, enterprise and cloud services, and backend testing.
The capability these pages belong to: how we build custom software, and when we do not.
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