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The JavaScript Ecosystem

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What is Node.js?

2:45 with Guil Hernandez

How does JavaScript run on a web server? Usually, it's with Node.js. Node is a cross-platform runtime environment for JavaScript. Since Node provides a way to run JavaScript outside of the browser, you can use it to build anything from command-line tools to frameworks, web servers, and more.

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    Client side JavaScript is executed by the browser, 0:00
    server side JavaScript is executed by a web server. 0:03
    So how does JavaScript run on a web server? 0:06
    Well usually it's with node.js. 0:08
    Node allows developers to do much more with JavaScript than 0:10
    just making websites interactive. 0:13
    Node is a cross platform runtime environment for 0:16
    developing server-side applications with JavaScript. 0:18
    Since Node provides a way to run JavaScript outside of the browser, you can 0:22
    use it to build anything from command line tools to frameworks, web servers and more. 0:25
    Node.js is based on Google Chrome's V8 open source JavaScript engine. 0:29
    Even though the Chrome browser and 0:35
    Node use the same JavaScript engine, they are two different run time environments. 0:37
    As you learned in the previous video, 0:41
    Node supplies JavaScript a different set of host objects compared to the browser. 0:43
    Host objects like http, https, fs for file system, url, 0:48
    os, and others are available to JavaScript to allow it to run outside the browser. 0:53
    Where Node really shine is in building real-time multi-user 0:57
    applications that handle many events or user actions at the same time. 1:01
    Like chat apps for instance, also multi-player games, collaboration tools, 1:06
    video-conferencing apps and more. 1:10
    One of the best parts about Node is its thriving ecosystem of free-open source 1:14
    tools. 1:18
    Npm, the node package manager, allows for the sharing and reuse of code and 1:19
    software written by other developers in the JavaScript community. 1:24
    Npm is the largest package ecosystem in the world with over 700,000 1:27
    packages available to help developer set up and build awesome projects. 1:33
    In addition, developers often use npm as a task runner 1:37
    to help automate repetitive tasks and most of their built tool chain. 1:41
    Now, since Node is a runtime environment, it does little out of the box, 1:45
    so to make it easier to get setup and 1:50
    working with Node, developers often use a Node framework. 1:52
    And one of the most popular frameworks is Express. 1:55
    Node and Express go hand in hand. 1:58
    Express allows developers to build scalable feature rich applications, 2:01
    websites and more, on top of Node. 2:05
    Express provides built in tools and functionality to take care of common tasks 2:08
    like routing or handling requests at different URL paths. 2:13
    Also serving static files and dynamic templating to render HTML pages. 2:17
    Developers can also build REST API's with Express and 2:22
    simple servers that talk to browsers. 2:26
    As you've learned, Node is a powerful tool that can run JavaScript 2:29
    applications on both the server side and client side. 2:32
    Without Node, the modern landscape of JavaScript probably wouldn't be 2:35
    as flourishing and as exciting. 2:38
    Be sure to have a look at the teacher's notes to see some of the awesome 2:40
    things you can build with Node and Express. 2:43

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