NodeJS

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime that executes code outside the browser, using Chrome's V8 engine for compilation and the libuv library for asynchronous I/O. Ryan Dahl created it in 2009 to demonstrate that JavaScript's event-driven model was well-suited for server-side programming — handling thousands of concurrent connections without the thread-per-request overhead of traditional server architectures.

The current LTS release is Node.js 24, with version 25 on the active development track. Node.js supports both CommonJS and ES module systems. The built-in standard library covers HTTP servers, file system access, streams, cryptography, and child process management. npm, the default package manager, hosts over two million packages and is the largest software registry in the ecosystem. Node.js is maintained by the OpenJS Foundation and follows a release schedule with even-numbered versions receiving long-term support.

The API documentation covers all built-in modules. The source code is on GitHub under the MIT license.