Node.js Development

The author, once burnt out by PHP, discovered Node.js and found server-side development enjoyable. Initially skeptical of using JavaScript on the server, they were impressed by its speed and lack of complex configurations. The asynchronous nature of Node.js was challenging but ultimately rewarding, especially with async/await. Node.js is not without flaws, including potential memory leaks and limitations with CPU-intensive tasks. The NPM ecosystem offers many libraries but requires careful selection to avoid outdated or malicious packages. The author successfully used Node.js to build a real-time application with WebSocket connections quickly and efficiently. A major advantage is using JavaScript for both frontend and backend, reducing context switching and enabling code sharing. The strong community support and extensive resources are also valuable. Node.js is well-suited for APIs, real-time applications, and CLI tools, but not ideal for heavy data processing. Ultimately, Node.js transformed the author's perspective on backend development and made them a true believer.