Node.js is commonly used as an API shim to decouple frontends from backends. Specifically, a financial company used Node.js to bundle multiple API requests into one to get around Internet Explorer 7's limit of only 2 simultaneous requests. Node.js allowed the company to release frontend updates independently of backend work by acting as a proxy between the frontend and backend APIs. More broadly, Node.js has become ubiquitous for frontend development tasks like builds, dependency management, and compilation due to its speed, flexibility, and ability to work well with both frontends and APIs.

1. Node.JS
The Swiss Army Knife of Web Development:
API Shim

2. Summary
● Frontend Development
– In the Past
– Today
● Node.js as an API shim
– The IE7 problem it solves
– The frontend-backend coupling problem
– Solution
● Node.js is everywhere
– The new Perl
– Swiss army knife of web development
– One step away from deployment

3. In The Past
● Java for minifying CSS files
● Ruby for compiling SASS into CSS files
● Tightly coupled backend and frontend
– Build process
– Deployment process
– API integration

4. Frontend Today
● Node.js is used for frontend builds:
– for every step of the build process
– for dependency management
– for compilation, pre-processing
– for minifying and even for macros

5. The Situation
● AngularJS Web App
● Frontend build process all using Node.js
● Backend REST API written in Java
● Migrated from Java Server Faces to decouple
frontend from backend
● Clients are big banks, financial firms

6. The IE problem
● Internet Explorer 7 has a small limit on HTTP
requests
● IE7: 2 max simultaneous
● Our client was using IE7

7. Frontend/Backend Decoupling
● Relying on backend API changes when there's
a backlog of other work.
● Backend Java responsibilities:
– Crawl for data from other databases
– Index the data
– Search the data
– Generate reports
● Frontend release schedule tied to backend
releases

8. Node.js as an API Shim
● Solution was Node.js api server shim
● Bundled 4+ requests data into one request
● Using expressjs (already used for local
development)
● Only required a frontend web app
deployment :-)

9. API Shims To Sneak Node In
● Make APIs cleaner than they usually would be
without modifying your frontend code
● Re-use API methods to reduce the # of
requests
● Prototype new functionality quickly and then
backport to the backend

10. Advantages of Node.js
● Same language as the web browser scripting
language
● Asynchronous by default
● Process-oriented vs thread-oriented
● Fast compared to other dynamic languages

11. Node.js is the new Perl
● Text processing was a big part of web
development, especially for system
administration
● Perl was fast, flexible and supported crazy
regular expressions
● Web dev and devops requires inter-operation
with speed and scalability.
● Node.js is fast, flexible and supports crazy
asynchronous expressions

12. Most important fact about Node.js
● You do not need permission to use it
● Chances are it's already used for building and
deploying your frontend web app
● It's already installed, you're already
downloading packages for it
● You can write small command line scripts
● JSON is the language of APIs

13. Thanks!
● Check out my blogs
– http://neverfriday.com/
– http://sourcecontribute.com/
● Twitter: @src_contribute