CP 323: Web Frameworks

Development Using JavaScript

Node JS
Mean Stack Development
● MEAN, a free, open-source, full-stack
solution for MEAN applications.
● MEAN combines MongoDB, Express.js,
AngularJS, and Node.js into a single, full
stack solution for JavaScript development.
Node.js

● Node.js is an open-source and

cross-platform JavaScript runtime
environment.
● It is a popular tool for almost any
kind of project.
Node.js

● Node.js runs the V8 JavaScript

engine, the core of Google Chrome,
outside of the browser.
● This allows Node.js to be very
performant
Node.js

● A Node.js app runs in a single process,

without creating a new thread for every
request.
● Node.js provides a set of asynchronous
I/O primitives in its standard library that
prevent JavaScript code from blocking
Node.js
● Generally, libraries in Node.js are written using
non-blocking paradigms, making blocking behavior
the exception rather than the norm.
● When Node.js performs an I/O operation, like
reading from the network, accessing a database or
the filesystem, instead of blocking the thread and
wasting CPU cycles waiting, Node.js will resume the
operations when the response comes back.
Node.js
● This allows Node.js to handle thousands of
concurrent connections with a single server
without introducing the burden of managing
thread concurrency, which could be a
significant source of bugs.
Node.js
● Node.js has a unique advantage because
millions of frontend developers that write
JavaScript for the browser are now able to
write the server-side code in addition to the
client-side code without the need to learn a
completely different language.
A brief history of Node.js
● Node.js was created by Ryan Dahl in 2009.
● Ryan was inspired by the need for a way to
handle concurrent connections more
efficiently in web servers, particularly for
I/O-heavy applications.
A brief history of Node.js
● Before Node.js, JavaScript was mainly used for
client-side development in web browsers. Dahl
wanted to use JavaScript on the server-side to build
scalable, high-performance applications
● The traditional method of handling requests in web
servers was not optimal for applications with high
levels of concurrency (e.g., real-time applications
like chats
A brief history of Node.js(2018 - Present)
● Long-term Support (LTS): In 2018, the Node.js team
introduced the concept of LTS (Long-Term Support)
releases to ensure stability for production environments.
● Node.js is now maintained with clear LTS and current
release lines.
● Performance and Features: Node.js continues to evolve
with new features, including improvements in
performance, security, and better support for
asynchronous programming and debugging
A brief history of Node.js (Today)
● Global Impact: Node.js is widely used in both
startups and large corporations.
● Its performance, scalability, and vast
ecosystem of tools and libraries have made it
the go-to platform for many modern web and
mobile applications.
A brief history of Node.js (Today)
● Popular Usage:
○ It is used for back-end services, APIs,
microservices, and is integrated with
popular web frameworks such as
Express.js, NestJS, and Koa.js.
A brief history of Node.js (Today)
● Enterprise Adoption:
○ Many large companies, such as Netflix,
Uber, LinkedIn, Walmart, and PayPal, have
adopted Node.js for handling large-scale
applications and microservices.
Key Milestones in Node.js Development:
● 2009: Ryan Dahl creates and releases Node.js.
● 2010: Introduction of npm (Node Package Manager).
● 2015:Node.js Foundation established for governance.
● 2018: Introduction of LTS releases.
● 2019: Node.js merges with the JS Foundation to form
the OpenJS Foundation.
Advantages of Node.js
● Node.js is an open-source framework under
MIT license. (MIT license is a free software
license originating at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT).)
● Uses JavaScript to build entire server side
application.
Advantages of Node.js
● Lightweight framework that includes bare
minimum modules. Other modules can be
included as per the need of an application.
● Asynchronous by default. So it performs
faster than other frameworks.
● Cross-platform framework that runs on
Windows, MAC or Linux
Traditional Web Server Model
● In the traditional web server model, each
request is handled by a dedicated thread
from the thread pool.
● If no thread is available in the thread pool at
any point of time then the request waits till
the next available thread.
Node.js Process Model
● Node.js processes user requests differently
when compared to a traditional web server
model.
● Node.js runs in a single process and the
application code runs in a single thread and
thereby needs less resources than other
platforms.
Node.js Process Model
● All the user requests to your web
application will be handled by a single
thread and all the I/O work or long running
job is performed asynchronously for a
particular request.
Node.js Process Model
● So, this single thread doesn't have to wait
for the request to complete and is free to
handle the next request.
● When asynchronous I/O work completes
then it processes the request further and
sends the response
Node.js Process Model
● An event loop is constantly watching for the
events to be raised for an asynchronous job
and executing callback function when the
job completes.
Advantages of Node.js
● Node.js process model increases the
performance and scalability with a few caveats.
● Node.js is not fit for an application which
performs CPU-intensive operations like image
processing or other heavy computation work
because it takes time to process a request and
thereby blocks the single thread.
Node.js Installation
● Node.js
● Node Package Manager (NPM)
● IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
or TextEditor
● NPM is included in Node.js installation since
Node version 0.6.0., so there is no need to
install it separately.
Node.js Installation
● Node.js comes with virtual environment
called REPL (aka Node shell). REPL stands
for Read-Eval-Print-Loop.
● It is a quick and easy way to test simple
Node.js/JavaScript code.
Node.js Module
● Module in Node.js is a simple or complex
functionality organized in single or multiple
JavaScript files which can be reused
throughout the Node.js application.
■ Core Modules(Built-in)
■ Local Modules
■ Third Party Modules
Node Modules
● Consider modules to be the same as JavaScript
libraries.
● A set of functions you want to include in your
application
Core Modules(Builts-in)
● The core modules include bare minimum
functionalities of Node.js.
● These core modules are compiled into its
binary distribution and load automatically
when Node.js process starts.
Core Modules
● http module includes classes, methods and events to create
Node.js http server.
● url module includes methods for URL resolution and parsing.
● Querystring module includes methods to deal with query
string.
● Path module includes methods to deal with file paths.
● Fs module includes classes, methods, and events to work with
file I/O.
● utilmodule includes utility functions useful for programmers.
Loading Core Modules
● In order to use Node.js core or NPM
modules, you first need to import it using
require() function as shown below.
● var module = require('module_name');
● The require() function will return an object,
function, property or any other JavaScript
type, depending on what the specified
module returns.
Node.js Local Module
● Local modules are modules created locally
in your Node.js application. These modules
include different functionalities of your
application in separate files and folders.
● You can also package it and distribute it via
NPM, so that Node.js community can use it.
Node.js Local Module(Your Modules)
● The module.exports is a special object
which is included in every JS file in the
Node.js application by default.
● Use module.exports or exports to expose
a function, object or variable as a module
in Node.js
Example module (date_time.js)
exports.date_time = function () {
return Date();
};
Use module
var http = require( 'http');

var dt = require( './date_time );

http.createServer( function (req, res) {

res.writeHead( 200, {'Content-Type' : 'text/html' });

res.write("The date and time are currently: " + dt.myDateTime());

res.end();

}).listen(8080);
END