Making a choice for backend technology is one of the most important decisions to be made while developing a web app. The right backend technology can help the developers to quickly launch the product in the market and determine how much effort it will take to maintain the app.
When it comes to backend technology, Node.js has been a popular choice among developers for a long time. Even though it is one of the most sought after backend technology in the market right now, it still has some clear drawbacks. So before you make your choice, consider the following pros and cons of choosing Node.js for web application development.
The Goods
There are many benefits to choosing Node.js for web application development. Here we are only going to discuss a few of them.
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Offers Easy App Scalability
The first benefit of Node.js is the scalability it offers. The developers can find it to be extremely easy to scale the application in both horizontal and vertical directions. By adding more Nodes to the existing system, web app developers can expand the applications horizontally. The matter of scalability is made easy when the developers are able to add extra resources to the single Nodes when scaling the app vertically. And that’s why the first pro or benefit of choosing Node js for web development is the high scalability of the applications.
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Easy To Learn
JavaScript happens to be one of the most popular programming languages in the programming world. And thanks to its popularity, most of the front-end developers are skilled at using JavaScript.
And this skill comes into play when learning Node.js. Since they are already fluent in JavaScript, learning Node.js is a simple task and takes a lot less time.
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Fullstack
Another reason why Node.js is one of the most popular among the developers is the fact that it is a full-stack javascript that can help with both client-side and server-side of the applications. And that’s why you don’t have to hire separate developers for front and backend. All you have to do is to hire a dedicated Node js developer and start with your web application development.
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High Performing
Node.js interprets the JavaScript code through the Google V8 JavaScript engine. This process makes sure that the JavaScript code is directly compiled into machine code, which makes it the entire process of implementing the code easier and faster. On top of this, the runtime environment also supports the non-blocking I/O operations which increases the speed of code execution.
The Bads
Before you get impressed with all the benefits of Node.js you have to consider the various drawbacks the runtime environment has. And here are a few of them.
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Unstable API
One of the biggest drawbacks of Node.js is the fact that the inconsistency of API. It keeps on changing at frequent intervals. And more often than not the changes are Backwards incompatible. This results in forced changes in the accessible code bases to match with the latest API version of Node.js.
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Not Supported By Strong Libraries
Another serious drawback of the runtime environment is the fact that it is not supported by a robust library system when compared to other programming languages.
And that’s why the users are forced to use the support provided by the common library for executing tasks such as ORM or Object-Relational Mapping, image processing, database operations handling, etc. the lack of library support makes it hard for the developers to conduct easy development tasks during the process.
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More Development Time
With Node.js you have to start everything from scratch, which means everything takes more time than it needs. The entire starting from scratch approach creates a decrease in productivity and slows down the entire process. However, there is one solution to this problem and that is to hire Node js web development services who have created a good process for the development and maintenance of codes. With such expert developers, you don’t have to worry about efficiency.
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Not Suitable For Heavy Applications
Even though when compared to Ruby on Rails, Node.js is able to control more complicated applications, but it is still not suitable for the development of apps that require heavy calculation and computing. The heavy computing demands of a heavyweight app can block the incoming requests that lead to reduced quality of performance. It might be perfect for complex applications, but it is still not suitable for the development of heavyweight applications.
And there we have it, the pros and cons that should be considered before you choose Node.js for your web application development. Make sure to conduct thorough research and understand the project requirements before choosing Node.js for your project.
