There shouldn’t be any second thoughts over JavaScript being regarded as one of the most popular and widely used client-side programming languages. It is basically employed as a web front-end development tool and proves to be more than a handy customer for the building of cross-development platforms.

1. The Positive and Negative Aspects of Node.js
Web App Development
There shouldn’t be any second thoughts over JavaScript being regarded
as one of the most popular and widely used client-side programming
languages.
It is basically employed as a web front-end development tool and
proves to be more than a handy customer for the building of cross-
development platforms.
In addition to that, it has also earned reputation due to its usage in
various other popular platforms including React Native, PhoneGap,
Titanium, Apache, NativeScript, Appcelerator etc.
In the current scenario, the area of application for JavaScript has
expanded and now it is also being used for server-side programming.
Node.js has indeed played an important role in this major shifting in
the web development.
What is Node.js?
Well, the simplest definition of Node.js is that it is a Javascript run-
time environment that helps in the execution of JavaScript code server-
side. It is an open–source cross-platform JavaScript that helps in the
development of real-time network application.
Node.js offers the developers event-driven I/O APIs and asynchronous. It
can also interpret JavaScript code via Google’s V8 JavaScript engine.
Moreover, it operates on a single threaded event based loop to make
all executions non-blocking. However, you cannot consider Node.js as not
a framework and it has nothing to do with the PHP, .NET or JAVA.

2. Let’s get down to the major benefits and drawbacks of using the
Node.js as server-side programming.
The Pros of Node.js
Let’s get down to the major advantages of using Node.js as server-side
programming:
1. Node.js offers an Easy Scalability
One of the key advantages of Node.js is that developers find it easy
to scale the applications in horizontal as well as the vertical directions.
The applications can be scaled in horizontal manner by the addition of
additional nodes to the existing system.
Moreover, Node.js also offers you the option of adding extra resources
to the single nodes during the vertical scaling of the application. So,
it is highly scalable and provides better option than other JavaScript
servers.
2. Easy to Learn
Since JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages,
most of the front-end developers have a good grasp over it.
It becomes much easier for them to start using the Node.js at the
backend. It is easier to learn Node.js and consumes less time to work
with it.
3. Node.js is used as a Single Programming Language
Node.js offers the developers the luxury of writing the server-side
applications in the JavaScript. This allows the Node.js developers to
write both the front-end as well as the back-end web application in
JavaScript using a runtime environment.

3. And they don’t need to use any other server-side programming language.
It also makes the deployment of the web applications simpler because
almost all the web browsers support JavaScript.
4. The Benefit of Fullstack JS
Node.js has been regarded as a full-stack JavaScript for serving both
the client and the server-side applications.
Therefore, the advantage is that you don’t have to hire separate
developers for backend as well as the front-end development. It saves
both your valuable money and time.
5. Known for Offering High Performance
It has been mentioned earlier that Node.js interprets the JavaScript code
via Google’s V8 JavaScript engine. This engine complies the JavaScript
code directly into the machine code. This makes it easier and faster
to implement the code in a effective manner.
The speed of the code execution also enhanced by runtime environment
as it supports the non-blocking I/O operations.
6. The Support of Large and Active Community
Node.js is blessed to have a large and active community of developers
who keep on continuously contributing towards its further development
and improvement.
In fact, the groups of developers are well supported by the JavaScript
programmers providing ready-made and easy solutions and codes in
GitHub. It is expected that the developers will initiate many further
developers in the future.
7. The Advantage of Caching
The open-source runtime environment of the Node.js also provides the
facility of caching single modules. Whenever there is any request for
the first module, it gets cached in the application memory.

4. The developers don’t have to re-execute the codes as caching allows
applications to load the web pages faster and responds more swiftly to
the user.
8. Offers the Freedom to Develop Apps
Another advantage that Node.js offers to the developers is the freedom
to develop the apps and software.
This is one essential feature, which remains absent in Ruby on Rails
imposing certain guidelines. You can begin everything from the scratch
while developing applications.
9. Getting Support for Commonly Used Tools
With Node.js, the developers can get an extended support for the
various commonly used tools. Let’s take an example. Suppose, you want
to test the source code of Node.js application; you can do so by
using the Jasmin and other such unit-testing tools.
Similarly, if you want to identify and install the project dependencies,
you can make use of npm, a powerful package manager. You can use
grunt for task running of the project.
10. Handles the Requests Simultaneously
Since the Node.js is providing the option of non-blocking I/O systems,
it relatively helps you to process several requests concurrently.
The system can handle the concurrent request handling efficiently better
than others including Ruby or Python. The incoming requests get lined
up and are executed quickly and systematically.
11. Node.js is Highly Extensible
The Node.js is known to be highly extensible, which means that you
can customize and further extend Node.js as per their requirements.

5. You can also make use of JSON to provide the scope for exchange
of data between the web server and the client. It also is facilitated
with built-in APIs for developing HTTP, TCP, and DNS etc. servers.
The Drawbacks of Node.js
Well, Node.js also has some cons which need to be necessarily
discussed.
1. Application Programming Interface (API) is Not Stable
One of the key problems that most of the developers encounter is the
Application Programming Interface (API) keeps on changing at frequent
intervals and does not remain stable.
At times, a new API appears having a number of backwards-
incompatible changes. As a result the developers are forced to make
changes in the accessible code bases to match the compatibility with
the latest version of the Node.js API.
2. Does not have a Strong Library Support System
The JavaScript does not have a well equipped and robust library system
in comparison to other programming languages.
The result is that the users are forced to take the support of
common library for executing various tasks such as Object-Relational
Mapping (ORM), processing of the images, handling database operations,
and XML parsing etc.
This makes it difficult for the developers to even implement the
common programming tasks using Node.js.
3. Asynchronous Programming Model
If you want to make the applications more scalable, the necessary
requisite is adoption of the asynchronous programming model.

6. However, many developers may find this programming model to be
more difficult in comparison to the linear blocking I/O programming.
Another con of the asynchronous programming is the codes tend to
become clumsy and the programmers have to depend on the nested
calls.
The Conclusion
The Node.js web development is more advantageous to the developers
in comparison to its disadvantages. What’s more important is the fact
that it has extended the area of JavaScript application and can be
evidently used for both frontend as well as backend servers.
With the progress of time, more and more business organizations have
adopted Node.js and have ended getting positive results.