What is Node.js?
An open source and cross-platform system, Node.js is used for building web applications. Offering asynchronous and event-driven APIs, Node.js is a run-time environment to execute a program written in JavaScript. Further, it is quite easy to learn Node.js if you’re already familiar with JavaScript. Best Node.js Tools for Developers is our subjective list of the tools we’ve used before or use on a daily basis here at Brainhub. We decided to share our stack and make life easier for those who, like us, work with Node.js.
Here are a few reasons why enterprises prefer Node.js Development Company and why web development companies prefer this platform for app development.
Related Post: Best Node.js Framework
Top Node.js Tools
ExpressJS
As an adaptable Node.js web application system, ExpressJS comes with a suite of features for web and mobile apps. With HTTP utility techniques and middleware, it permits to make a strong API. ExpressJS gives a light layer of web application features, without hampering Node.js highlights.
Socket.io
Socket.IO empowers bidirectional and event based correspondence. It deals with each stage, program or gadget, concentrating similarly on unwavering quality and speed.
Working flawlessly on each platform and device, Socket.IO permits constant, real-time and occasion based correspondence. One of the most prominent JavaScript systems on GitHub, the attention is on abnormal state unwavering quality and speed. Regardless of whether it is enormous venture or dynamic new companies, Socket.io is one of the most reliable npm modules.
Koa
New web framework developed by the group behind Express, Koa gives an establishment to web application and APIs. With its async capacities, Koa lets you to dump callbacks and improve error handling. It gives a rich suite of strategies that makes composing servers quick and pleasant. This improves interoperability, performance, and makes middleware writing far more agreeable.
A Koa application is an object containing a variety of middleware capacities which are made and executed in a stack-like way.
Mocha.js
Mocha is a feature-rich JavaScript test structure running on Node.js, making making asynchronous testing simple. Mocha tests run sequentially, providing flexibility and precise reporting, while at the same time mapping uncaught exemptions to the right experiments. It is facilitated on GitHub.
Passport.js
An authentication middleware for Node.js, Passport.JS gives 300+ unique strategies for confirming client application through username and password model, login by means of Facebook, Google, Twitter and substantially more.
PM2
One developer tool that stands for its simplicity and ease of use is PM2. It actually serves as a process manager, especially for Node.js applications and comes with different features considered ideal for a production environment. PM2 also gets support for the community of developers and enterprises from all over the world.
It depicts ease, simplicity, straightforwardness and usability. It really fills in as a procedure supervisor, particularly for Node.js applications and accompanies various highlights thought about perfect for a creation situation. PM2 gets support from developers from across the world.
- Behavior configuration
- Source map support
- Container Integration
- Watch & Reload
- Log management
- Monitoring
- Module System
- Max memory reload
- Cluster Mode
- Hot reload
- Development workflow
- Startup Scripts
- Deployment workflow
- PaaS Compatible
- Keymetrics monitoring
- API
Webpack
Simplifying the process of application development and deployment, Webpack is a static module bundler for modern JavaScript applications. Webpack is used with Node.js due to its capability to bundle and serve assets faster than other development tools. It is also used to bundle the JavaScript pages to get further implemented in a browser. As a result of this, the overall initial loading time is minimized.
When webpack processes your application, it internally builds a dependency graph which maps every module your project needs and generates one or more bundles.
Keystone
Built on Express and MongoDB, KeystoneJS is an open source framework specializing to develop database-driven websites, applications and APIs in Node.js. Based on Express, Keystone is an open source and full stack framework. Keystone comes across as a feasible option to create database-driven websites, apps and APIs in Node.js. Its auto-generated user interface makes it very easy to use and handle websites.
Chai
Chai is a BDD / TDD assertion library for node and the browser allowing combination with any javascript testing framework. With several interfaces, chain-capable BDD styles provide an expressive language & readable style, while the TDD assert style provides a more classical feel.
Developers can build their own plugins to share with community or use the plugin pattern to DRY up existing tests.
Sinon.js
Sinon.js is a standalone testing framework for JavaScript. The great thing about Sinon.js is the fact that it works with any given testing framework, as well as supports stubs, spies and mocks. It also supports most browsers (cross-browser support) and runs on the server using Node.js.
Electrode
Created by WalmartLab, Electrode.js is extremely popular and widely used for React.js and Node.js applications. With a set of best practices and modern technologies, this tool ensures the reusability of the components, deployment of the applications to the cloud, as well as high performance.
Relates Post : Why use Node.js for Enterprises Solutions?
Node.js Advantages
Asynchronous and Event Driven
APIs of Node.js library are asynchronous. This means non-blocking. A Node.js based server never waits for an API to return data. The server moves to the next API after calling it and a notification mechanism of Events of Node.js helps the server to get a response from the previous API call.
High Performance
Being built on Google Chrome’s V8 JavaScript Engine, Node.js is super-efficient and quick in code execution.
Single Threaded and Scalable
Node.js uses a single threaded model with event looping. Event mechanism helps the server to respond in a non-blocking way and makes the server highly scalable as opposed to traditional servers like Apache which create limited threads to handle requests.
Conclusion
Node.js continues to grow in building high-performance and scalable network applications. It’s easy to get started, and it’s built well enough to handle modern Web complexities. Node.js is a runtime system that could work to build next generation website, especially APIs for mobile and web integration, or if you are creating something new which relies on underlying services itself.
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