Node.js
JavaScript runtime environment
Node.js is a cross-platform, open-source JavaScript runtime environment that can run on Windows, Linux, Unix, macOS, and more. Node.js runs on the V8 JavaScript engine, and executes JavaScript code outside a web browser. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey, Node.js is one of the most commonly used web technologies.
Node.js allows developers to use JavaScript for writing command line tools and server-side scripting. Running Javascript on the server is commonly used to generate dynamic web page content before the page is sent to the user's web browser. Consequently, Node.js represents a "JavaScript everywhere" paradigm, unifying web-application development around a single programming language, as opposed to using different languages for the server- versus client-side programming.
Node.js has an event-driven architecture capable of asynchronous I/O. These design choices aim to optimize throughput and scalability in web applications with many input/output operations, as well as for real-time Web applications (e.g., real-time communication programs and browser games).
The Node.js distributed development project was previously governed by the Node.js Foundation, and has now merged with the JS Foundation to form the OpenJS Foundation. OpenJS Foundation is facilitated by the Linux Foundation's Collaborative Projects program.
History
Node.js was initially written by Ryan Dahl in 2009, about 13 years after the introduction of the first server-side JavaScript environment, Netscape's LiveWire Pro Web.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Node.js” as javaScript runtime environment. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as javaScript runtime environment. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q756100. The Library of Congress control number is n2013024269. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2009.
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This entry incorporates text from “Node.js” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.