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Questions tagged [node.js]

Node.js is an event-based, non-blocking, asynchronous I/O runtime that uses Google's V8 JavaScript engine and libuv library. It is used for developing applications that make heavy use of the ability to run JavaScript both on the client as well as on the server side and therefore benefit from the re-usability of code and the lack of context switching.

Node.js is an event-based, non-blocking, asynchronous I/O (input/output) runtime that uses Google's V8 JavaScript Engine.

, commonly just called Node, is often used for developing applications that rely on the ability to run both on the client and server side. Running the same language on both the client and the server benefits from improved code reusability and less context switching.

A notable feature of is that it is non-blocking – if one task stalls or pauses for an I/O operation, another can take over while idle. This allows for high efficiency as the program as a whole never has to idle and wait for one task to finish. Libraries such as async take advantage of this capability. More information can be found here.

It's also possible to use mature JavaScript frameworks like YUI and jQuery for server-side DOM manipulation in .

To ease the development of complex JavaScript further, Node.js supports the CommonJS standard that allows for modularized development and the distribution of software in packages via the Node Package Manager (NPM).

Download node.js:

Applications that can be written using Node.js include, but are not limited to:

  • Static file servers
  • Web Application frameworks
  • Messaging middleware
  • Servers for HTML5 multi player games, or streaming audio/video
  • Real time applications
  • Cross-platform programs

When asking questions about Node.js, you should:

  1. Make sure to check the official API documentation before asking, your question might be trivial.
  2. Isolate the problem and reproduce it with as little code as possible.
  3. If the question has nothing to do with anything that's specific, please consider asking it as a question instead.
  4. Mention which version of Node.js you are running. When in doubt, use node -v or node --version.
  5. Make sure to only use the tag, since is ambiguous.

Interesting Questions and Answers

Useful Links

Tutorials, Guides and Books

Talks, Presentations, and Podcasts on Node.js

Free Node.js Books and Resources

Chat Room & Mailing list

Logging

  • pino - Extremely fast logger inspired by Bunyan.
  • winston - Multi-transport async logging library.
  • console-log-level - The most simple logger imaginable with support for - log levels and custom prefixes.
  • storyboard - End-to-end, hierarchical, real-time, colorful logs and stories.
  • signale - Hackable console logger with beautiful output.

Official logo

Official logo

Node.js is copyrighted by the openJS Foundation

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What's the difference between tilde(~) and caret(^) in package.json?

After I upgraded to the latest stable node and npm, I tried npm install moment --save. It saves the entry in the package.json with the caret ^ prefix. Previously, it was a tilde ~ prefix. Why are these changes made in npm? What is the difference…
Fizer Khan
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What is the --save option for npm install?

I saw some tutorial where the command was: npm install --save What does the --save option mean?
Dmitri
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How do I pass command line arguments to a Node.js program and receive them?

I have a web server written in Node.js and I would like to launch with a specific folder. I'm not sure how to access arguments in JavaScript. I'm running node like this: $ node server.js folder here server.js is my server code. Node.js help says…
milkplus
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Using async/await with a forEach loop

Are there any issues with using async/await in a forEach loop? I'm trying to loop through an array of files and await on the contents of each file. import fs from 'fs-promise' async function printFiles () { const files = await getFilePaths() //…
Saad
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Find the version of an installed npm package

How can I find the version of an installed Node.js or npm package? This prints the version of npm itself: npm -v This prints a cryptic error: npm version This prints the package version on the registry (i.e., the…
Laurent Couvidou
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What's the difference between dependencies, devDependencies, and peerDependencies in NPM package.json file?

This documentation answers my question very poorly. I didn't understand those explanations. Can someone say in simpler words? Maybe with examples if it's hard to choose simple words? Also added peerDependencies, which is closely related and might…
Vitalii Korsakov
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How can I update each dependency in package.json to the latest version?

I copied package.json from another project and now want to bump all of the dependencies to their latest versions since this is a fresh project and I don't mind fixing something if it breaks. What's the easiest way to do this? The best way I know is…
Raine Revere
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Do I commit the package-lock.json file created by npm 5?

npm 5 was released today and one of the new features include deterministic installs with the creation of a package-lock.json file. Is this file supposed to be kept in source control? I'm assuming it's similar to yarn.lock and composer.lock, both of…
rink.attendant.6
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How to exit in Node.js

What is the command that is used to exit? (i.e terminate the Node.js process)
700 Software
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How to decide when to use Node.js?

I am new to this kind of stuff, but lately I've been hearing a lot about how good Node.js is. Considering how much I love working with jQuery and JavaScript in general, I can't help but wonder how to decide when to use Node.js. The web application I…
Legend
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How can I update Node.js and NPM to their latest versions?

I just installed Node.js and NPM (Node Package Manager). I installed NPM for access to additional Node.js modules. After I installed Node.js and NPM, I noticed that neither were the latest versions available. How do I upgrade Node.js, NPM, and my…
Dail
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Writing to files in Node.js

I've been trying to find a way to write to a file when using Node.js, but with no success. How can I do that?
Gjorgji
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map function for objects (instead of arrays)

I have an object: myObject = { 'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3 } I am looking for a native method, similar to Array.prototype.map that would be used as follows: newObject = myObject.map(function (value, label) { return value * value; }); // newObject…
Randomblue
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Error message "error:0308010C:digital envelope routines::unsupported"

I created the default IntelliJ IDEA React project and got this: Error: error:0308010C:digital envelope routines::unsupported at new Hash (node:internal/crypto/hash:67:19) at Object.createHash (node:crypto:130:10) at module.exports…
a1cd
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How do I completely uninstall Node.js, and reinstall from beginning (Mac OS X)

My version of node is always v0.6.1-pre even after I install brew node and NVM install v0.6.19. My node version is: node -v v0.6.1-pre NVM says this (after I install a version of node for the first time in one bash terminal): nvm…
Dominic Tancredi
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