Pros And Cons of Node.js Web App Development In 2022

As the most well-known programming language, JavaScript is also one of the most versatile software dev technologies. And that’s barely a surprise! Usually, it’s used as a web interface development tool, it has also become a primary cross-platform mobile development tool as the underlying tech for many platforms, the most popular of which is React Native.

But the application areas of JavaScript do not end there. Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about using JavaScript for programming on the server side. One of the tools that created the change in the creation of web apps is Node.js development.

What is Node.js Development?

Node.js is not really a framework or library, but an ecosystem based on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine. But many cool frameworks are written on top of it. What are the most popular?

• Express.js 
• Nest.js

They allow you to quickly and efficiently develop the backend part of applications, which is extremely important in each dev project.

To understand when to use Node js for your project you need to know all pros and cons that come with it. Read on and find out everything about Node js development service to find the most effective solution for your business project.

Node.js Development Pros

We gathered top advantages of using Node.js that are worth exploring.

A cut above efficiency and dev productivity

Node.js can process requests without any delays due to non-blocking Input-Output, as well as asynchronous handling. In the backend, synchronous processing supposes that code is done in a sequence, where each request is seen as a thread. In such cases, requests are handled one by one. But asynchronous processing brings no blocking of the threads.

What does it look like?

1. A request is processed
2. After it can push out a callback
3. Continue serving other requests

That results in:

• Making the most out of a single thread
• Short response time
• Simultaneous processing

Another important aspect is that Node.js is the event-based model. With the same language for both client and server sides, synchronization is quick. That’s very beneficial for event-based, real-time apps. This is why Node.js is widely used for:

• Chats
• Online gaming
• Video conferences

Well, and any solutions that need constant data updates. For example, PayPal saw a 35% decrease in response time after migrating from Java, which is a bright example of why so many leading German software companies are switching to Node.js apps.

So, if you want to rewrite your backend on Node.js—drop us a line, and we will provide quality solutions for your business.

Stack Language Sharing

Node.js allows using JavaScript for both frontend and backend, bringing language consistency across the whole app. This is very different from most apps, which use different languages like HTML/CSS/JavaScript for the frontend and PHP/Ruby on Rails/Java for the backend.

Using Node.js makes possible:

• Client and server apps code exchange
• Using JavaScript for the whole dev process
• Improving backend and front-end communication and teamwork

Besides, Node.js makes full-stack development easier and more accessible, as there is no need of finding a niche developer for each need. And Node.js is suitable for developers who like the dynamical typing of JavaScript, as well as static typing of TypeScript, as it allows choosing between the two.

Active community

Questions and issues are unavoidable in the development process, which makes the strong community of Node.js another great advantage. The bigger the community and the faster it’s growing the higher the chance of finding the answer you need faster. Also, it allows developers to always stay up to date.

Having an active community also facilitates the search for specialists if you need to expand the team. Let us share a real story from OmiSoft experience. One of our clients faced a burning problem of lacking Ruby specialists for the project. We rewrote it on Node.js and the problem disappeared.

Strong support by big corporations

The founding members of Node.js are big organizations like Microsoft, IBM, Fidelity, PayPal, and SAP, and it currently includes 300 popular companies, such as Trello and Uber. Such huge support from the world’s leading companies is rare for open source projects, which is a clear sign of the exceptional potential of Node.js

Native AWS Support

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a hosting platform ⅓ of developers, as a host is needed for all web apps. Node.js is supported natively in AWS, which means that it’s integrated with it, making it another great advantage. What difference does it make?

• Developers can make changes to the code in their browser with Cloud9.
• Using Node.js is possible also with Amazon’s IoT

Want to see Node.js in action? Here are the top-5 apps that use it in their core:

1. Netflix
2. Twitter
3. Uber
4. Slack
5. Coursera

Node.js Development Cons

As one of the leading Nodejs development companies, we are confident that using Node js comes with a lot of perks, but there are also a few drawbacks that are worth exploring.

Bottlenecks in performance 

Probably the main drawback of Node.js is that it can’t process CPU-bound tasks. The Node performs JS code on its single thread on an event basis, processing tasks asynchronously, which creates an event loop.

Node.js has a single thread of execution and does not allow for parallel processing, so it’s not the best choice for CPU- or memory-intensive apps. 

As a heavy request comes, Node.js development would set all the CPU at hand to process it, and then answer others, which results in slow processing. However, Node.js 12 introduced multithreading, which enables parallel processing on a different thread.

Hell of Callbacks

Because Node.js runs tasks asynchronously, it uses callbacks extensively. Callbacks are functions that run after each task is completed. Keeping a large number of callbacks queued in the background can result in a situation called “Hell of Callbacks”, where callbacks are nested several levels deep, which brings extra complexity and difficulty in understanding and maintaining the code.

But good development helps to get around this problem and usually an experienced Nodejs development company can handle them.

Are tools mature enough?

Even though core Node.js modules are stable and are considered mature, some of the tools in the npm registry are not of the best quality or are not yet properly tested. Besides, the registry itself isn’t organized well enough to suggest tools based on their quality or rating.

Therefore it might be a challenge to find the best solution for your needs. And, It’s essential to use tools and libraries that are already stable, actively supported, and developed, and that have already become the standard in the Node.js world.

High demand for experienced Node.js developers

JavaScript developer ≠ Node.js developer

That’s a common misconception. Learning server-side JavaScript programming demands putting in a lot of effort and additional experience in backend development. With the steep learning curve, no wonder why the number of Node.js engineers is much lower, compared to JS specialists. As the popularity of Node.js is continuously growing the hunt for experienced dev teams in this field is tough.

Let’s sum up

So, what is Node.js good for?

The bottom line

The backend development is a very important part of the product, therefore the quality of implementation is super important, so it is better not to save on backend developers and to validate them well. Is Node.js still a good choice for the backend? — Hard yes!

If you have decided to choose Node js development services for your product, but have a problem choosing among Node js development companies, contact us and get a free consultation.

OmiSoft team has more than 50 Node.js developers with years of experience. And our team is constantly growing and becoming better. A great selection of top Node.js development services specialists makes it possible to choose a developer who will be the best match for your needs.

By Yevhen Sakara

CBDO & Co-founder

Sep 08, 2022

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