5 Node.js Advantages and Disadvantages and What They Mean for Your Project

Ever since Node.js came about, it has been an ideal choice for web development. The framework was built in 2009 with scalability and performance in mind, which is why enterprise companies and startups continuously choose Node.js for their production. 
 
Any technology has good and bad characteristics, and Node.js is no exception. We have collected a list of pros and cons of Node.js that are important to learn for professionals in product or application development. Let’s dive into the topic. 

Node.js advantages 

It provides fast delivery
Node.js is a proven way to make the time-to-market cycle shorter. It offers both client-side and server-side in JavaScript—meaning applications written in Node.js require fewer files and less code as developers can reuse it for the frontend and backend parts of an application. As a result, a development team delivers faster results and you can engage full-stack developers instead of separately bringing on frontend and backend developers.

It offers easy scalability
Node.js is not inherently more scalable than PHP or Ruby, but it is easier to scale due to its support for microservices architecture and event-driven programming. Microservices allow applications to be built as separate functional blocks, making it simpler to scale up by adding more microservices. Event-driven programming enables Node.js to handle high traffic without compromising performance, as it uses all available CPU cores simultaneously. Additionally, Node.js's caching feature enhances response time and overall database performance, making it a beneficial choice for businesses aiming to scale.

It is quick to adapt and easy to learn
Node.js is based on JavaScript, one of the most widely used languages among developers.

If a developer has JavaScript skills, it is relatively easy to initiate migration to Node.js for server-side development. This fact attracts new developers to start learning this runtime environment.

Node.js disadvantages 

It has asynchronous programming
Asynchronous programming in Node.js relies heavily on callbacks, leading to the infamous "Pyramid of Doom." Nesting callbacks can result in complex and hard-to-read code structures, making maintenance and debugging a challenge.

It offers a limited standard library 
Node.js has a smaller standard library than other server-side technologies, necessitating a reliance on external modules from the NPM registry. This introduces potential security risks and dependencies on third-party packages, requiring careful management.

It is not ideal for CPU-intensive tasks
While Node.js is well-suited for handling I/O-bound operations, there may be better choices for CPU-intensive tasks, presenting challenges for certain types of applications.

How do EPAM developers optimize the benefits and avoid the limitations of Node.js? 

At EPAM, we utilize the async nature of Node.js to deliver high-load projects (such as MACH projects) where we have a lot of I/O-bound operations. At the same time, to deal with the challenges of callback issues, we use modern JS syntax async/await to ensure that our async code is maintainable. 

In addition, we utilize modern cloud technologies to run batch processing and spread the CPU-intensive tasks across multiple instances.

If you want to use your Node.js competences on challenging global projects, check out our Node.js vacancies at www.epam.com/careers.