В последнее время JavaScript (далее — JS) становится очень популярным языком программирования для веб-разработчиков. Front-end разработчики используют js для улучшения пользовательского интерфейса, добавления интерактивности и коммуникации с Back-end веб-сервисами используя AJAX. Web developers who work on the server-side are also flocking to JavaScript because of the efficiencies and speed offered by JavaScript’s event-driven, non-blocking nature.
In fact, concentrating on JavaScript as your language of choice offers the opportunity to master a single language while still being able to develop “full-stack” web applications. The key to this server-side JavaScript revolution is Node.js® — a version of Chrome’s V8 JavaScript runtime engine — which makes it possible to run JavaScript on the server-side.
Node.js is also used for developing desktop applications and for deploying tools that make developing web sites simpler. For example, by installing Node.js® on your desktop machine, you can quickly convert CoffeeScript to JavaScript, SASS to CSS, and shrink the size of your HTML, JavaScript and graphic files. Using NPM — a tool that makes installing and managing Node modules — it’s quite easy to add many useful tools to your web development toolkit.
In a previous article, I wrote about how to install Node.js® and, it’s companion, NPM on a Mac. Fortunately, for Windows users, the Node.js® installation process is a lot easier than how I recommend installing Node.js® on a Mac.