Node.js vs Other Backend Technologies: Which is Right for Your Business

Quick Overview: Is NodeJS better than other backend technologies? Why are big giants like Netflix, Twitter, PayPal and LinkedIn using NodeJS to build an application? In this detailed article, we are going answer all these questions, defining why Node.js is still a useful and powerful backend tool and comparing it to alternative options. Read on to understand the true potential of NodeJS development, technology and Nodejs benefits today.

“Jack of all trades and a master of none”

This saying goes right in the eyes of some developers when it comes to NodeJS. However, there’s more to this technology or environment than is perceived.

Node JS has its own category when it comes to backend development. And NodeJS is neither considered a programming language nor an individual framework. Generally, it is defined as a mixture of both, hence – Technology or Environment, which we will discuss later in this article.

Node.js is surely the best when considering other backend technologies - programming languages as well as frameworks. Node JS is defined as an open-source JavaScript runtime environment that is based on the ultra-powerful Google’s V8 engine.

Moreover, as per Statista's report, Node.js has also overtaken React.js to become the most used web framework among software developers worldwide, with a respondent rate of over 40.8%.

In simple terms, NodeJS can be defined as a programming language that works well on a browser as a development runtime. Node.js is renowned for its ability to work seamlessly as a backend and frontend development environment. The design of NodeJS development is simple and very similar to Twisted by Python and Event Machine by Ruby.

While talking about other server-side development alternatives, NodeJS is an effective and lightweight runtime environment. That’s the reason every NodeJS development company takes part in the race to build web applications driven by the NodeJS ecosystem. And PayPal, Uber, LinkedIn, and Netflix are only a few names that have adopted NodeJS architecture for their web applications.

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In this article, why NodeJS is better than other backend technologies, we will discuss whether Node.js is still a useful backend tool, compare it with other alternative options, and reveal its potential for startups and large organizations. Let’s read ahead to understand how you can benefit from using Node.js today.

What is Node JS?

Node.js is a runtime environment built on Google Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine, allowing you to write server-side applications. It’s an open-source cross-platform runtime environment for JavaScript to develop server-side and real-time applications.

Node.js, which is written in JavaScript, suggests a framework that enables developers to handle the back end of web applications without using PHP, Java, Ruby, Python, or any other server-side scripting language. Node.js combines front end and back end development technologies and executes the applications within its own runtime on the server.

Some of the impressive features of NodeJS, like efficiency and lightweight due to its event-driven model and asynchronous nature, encourage back-end developers to choose Node JS over other backend frameworks and technologies.

Since Node.js supports JavaScript for both front-end and backend, Node JS becomes an ideal choice for data-intensive application development. The NodeJS event-driven architecture and its I/O model make NodeJS the best choice for scalable and real-time situations.

How Does Node.js Work?

Now the actual question comes, how does NodeJS work in real-time applications?

To answer that question, let us give you a real-time example of NodeJS used by one of the biggest online streaming platforms, Netflix.

Utilizing the main features and taking business benefits of Node JS, Netflix is mainly responsible for upholding content streaming by handling millions of requests from users. Here, Netflix utilizes NodeJS as an event-driven and single-threaded technology to deliver a seamless experience without any interruption.

In addition, using other JavaScript frameworks or tools with NodeJS, the startup times of Netflix were reduced by 70% (from 40 minutes to 1 minute). Moreover, the company also simplified the process of integrating microservices into the existing system.

Still, how does NodeJS function behind the stage?

Let’s consider a backend programming language, PHP. So, while talking about NodeJS vs PHP, NodeJS completely handles concurrent requests utilizing a single thread and doesn’t block it for one request. And this is not the same case with PHP.

Also, NodeJS allows you to build feature-rich, scalable applications from scratch with its non-blocking I/O model. Here what you have to do is to install NPM on your system – Node Package Manager for all your project requirements. Then leave everything to NodeJS.

What Makes Node.js So Popular?

If we show some stats to you, NodeJS secured its 6th position in the list of the most widely used web technologies in 2021, as per Stack Overflow. However, NodeJS web development for the backend has never been here to lend a helping hand to developers.

Google Chrome’s V8 is a set of libraries built on top of a powerful virtual machine.

Node.js is composed of Google’s B8 JavaScript engine, the libUV platform abstraction layer, and a core library written in JavaScript. Therefore, the latest version of Node JS – Node.js 21 comes with an upgraded V8 engine – v11.8.

It's also important to remember that Ryan Dahl, the creator of Node.js, was attempting to build real-time websites using push functionality. He offers NodeJS developers a tool to work with Node.js' event-driven, non-blocking I/O paradigm.

How Does Node.js Differ from Other Server Side Frameworks?

One of the finest and most promising functionalities of Node JS is asynchronous events via JavaScript callback. That’s what makes Node JS different from other existing server-side frameworks. Furthermore, it uses JavaScript as a programming language. And as you can see in the below image, everything inside NodeJS runs in a single thread.

In fact, other existing server-side frameworks like PHP, JSP, and ASP.NET support multiple-threading web servers (IIS/Tomcat). Hence, they are considered multiple threads systems.

In this system, it will put restrictions on the number of threads. The framework has a limitation of a maximum number of threads, beyond which the throughput decreases.

We have identified several issues with Multi-threaded systems. After going through the points, you will realize why Node JS is better than other server-side frameworks in recent times.

• It consumes a huge amount of memory under a heavy load.
• Threads have to wait till some I/O operations get finished.
• With a large number of threads, context-switching and scheduling increase drastically.

This only defines why many startups and large organizations generally prefer NodeJS development services to handle their millions of concurrent requests.

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Popular Backend Technologies Other Than Node.js

In the recent scenario, several backend technologies in mobile and web development are likely to boom in recent times. In short, these are the popular backend technologies alternative to NodeJS for backend development.

Let’s read it here.

PHP

PHP is one of the popular backend programming languages suitable for mid-size and large-scale applications. Also, it is widely used by developers around the world. While talking about PHP vs NodeJS, PHP development is event-driven, which becomes a challenging task for developers to create a real-time connection with the backend server. This is quite the opposite scenario with NodeJS.

Python

The learning curve of Python is very easy and thus becomes a very popular language among aspiring developers. Python is suitable for mid-sized and large software development.

While talking about the performance of NodeJS vs Python, Python is way behind Node JS despite being suitable for developing fast and productive projects.

.NET

.NET is a tough competitor to Node JS technology. It is generally used for back end and front end development. Since it supports a wide range of languages, it is the most effective technology for small and mid-sized application development.

Developers can easily build web applications, websites and desktop applications by leveraging the benefits and features of .NET, as it offers multi-platform compatibility.

While considering .NET development, you can write synchronous or asynchronous codes as per your preference.

On the other hand, Node.js is an asynchronous programming language. It means you have to use asynchronous code, resulting in maximizing CPU efficiency by removing thread context switching.

Ruby

Ruby programming language is the right choice for developing med-sized projects. The language offers good documentation with large community support.

However, Ruby has recently lost its position and market share in the developer community, which is not the case with NodeJS technology. And that led to fewer updates, improvements, and deployments.

Java

Java is a high-level robust and secure programming language that has been on the market for more than 27 years already. In fact, it is suitable for large-scale enterprise development to handle complex requirements with data processing and complicated computations.

While comparing NodeJS vs Java, Java development consumes developers' time, whereas NodeJS is easy to learn, leading to faster development.

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Overview of Node.js vs Other Backend Technologies

As we saw in the above section, a wide range of technologies – programming languages and frameworks- are available in the market to deliver robust backend development. However, every technology is useful and essential in some of their development, making the frontend appear its best.

But what’s something that every organization appears to be shifting to NodeJS technology? What’s something that makes NodeJS different than other backend technologies? Why do businesses choose NodeJS for backend development? What distinguishes NodeJS from other backend programming languages?

Well, now is the time to answer all your queries and learn why NodeJS is increasing the bar of backend developers.

Let’s get this started.

NodeJS vs Java

When it comes to server-side development, which technology would you choose for backend – Node JS or Java?

This was the most demanding question when Ryan Dahl introduced NodeJS, which eventually gave birth to many top Node JS frameworks in the dev community.

While talking about Java vs Node, Java is a preferred platform for Android development, where Node is a more desirable alternative for desktop application development.

Node is preferred to build real-time applications, mobile and web applications, online gaming apps, and eCommerce applications. Moreover, it’s very easy to use NodeJS microservice architecture to make your app more scalable and powerful.

On the other hand, Java is used to build CPU-bound and CPU-intensive applications with a large codebase. Since Java uses typed sources, it becomes easy to fix bugs and maintain an application. Generally, Java is preferred to employ RDBMS (Relational Database Management System).

Node.js vs PHP

There’s no denying that PHP is one of the most demanding and popular programming languages, providing great support for server management systems. It’s generally used for content management systems or relational databases.

PHP development requires less code; nevertheless, NodeJS technology provides easier functionality when it comes to code reusability. With higher efficiency of code execution, Node does a better job of transmitting data from the server in service calls.

Since Node offers far more server management options, PHP development suggests services that will use a relational database or CMS. Additionally, PHP allows software development businesses to reuse code with less authorship needed. Additionally, NodeJS provides quicker processing and a rapid way to export data from the server via service calls.

Node.js vs Python

Python is a powerful, versatile programming language for running simulations and machine learning on servers. On the other hand, NodeJS is considered the best backend technology for building real-time applications – web applications. Unlike Python, Node is an asynchronous programming language by default, which offers increased flexibility.

Being an object-oriented language, Python is quite similar to Java. While comparing Python with NodeJS, Python is preferred in large projects and quite compatible with intensive calculation models, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and complicated web app development. You can easily make the application logic simple by leveraging the set of Python's libraries. However, its architecture makes performance challenging and requires technical expertise for uninterpreted support.

Node JS vs .NET

With the support of various languages, .NET development supports both the back end and back end of the project. .NET is a free framework and an ideal choice for small and med-sized projects. The primary goal of .NET is to build services, websites, and desktop applications that can be executed on multiple platforms.

While comparing .NET with Node, developers can only use asynchronous code, which improves the CPU speed and performance by avoiding thread context switching.

Why is Node.js Better for Backend Development?

In the software development process, backend development plays an important role. Hence, whenever you hire NodeJS developers, it’s essential for them to pay attention to it and take advantage of the NodeJS frameworks to make your application more powerful.

Let’s read why Node is not just good but a better option for backend development.

• Node.js performs well when it comes to handling a large amount of data in real time. Node.js makes it possible to collect data, visualize it, and show it as dashboards. Note that, HTTP requests and responses are large streams of data.
• Since Node offers numerous functionalities that may be impossible to have in any event-based context, Node.js backend programming is straightforward.
• Since Node.js keeps its data in native JSON, NodeJS turns out to be fast.
• It is backed by a large community of developers who are always working to make it better. It performs high-level data streaming. Regardless of the underlying operating system, it is also appropriate for creating software that runs on several platforms.
• Since Node.js is non-blocking and offers async functions, it can handle several tasks at once. Because the procedures are frequently handled in a single thread rather than queuing, they speed up server tasks.
• Applications created with Node.js are scalable and have a higher performance level.
• It's simple to learn Node.js. Node.js developers are becoming more prevalent, which lowers development expenses when you hire NodeJS experts. You can follow several tips for hiring the NodeJS developer team, which will help you reduce your costs.

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Is Node.js the right technology for you? Let’s check!

1. Will your app handle numerous data and users requests at once?

NodeJS is an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model which helps you build efficient and lightweight applications. That’s why it’s perfect for data-intensive real-time applications.

2. Do you expect to get more and more users? Is your app capable of managing millions of traffic?

Node JS enables more convenient data exchange between the client and the server. Thus, it satisfies all requirements of the development process and delivers scalability and efficiency.

3. Are you planning to build a Single-Page Application (SPA)?

There’s no denying that Node JS is the most preferred technology for many large enterprises. It’s the best solution for Single Page Application (SPA) development.

4. Do you want to utilize open-source solutions?

Node comes with a huge amount of open-source libraries. Well, this is possible due to JavaScript, inghelp you utilize the same libraries for both front end and backend.

Take Advantage of Node JS Development with RadixwebNode is a truly game-changing technology in web application development. And whenever you hire Node.js developers, consider that you may want to onboard full stack developers who can help you with both back-end and front-end web development.Well, it’s not easy to find a proficient and experienced team of developers. That’s why you can count on Radixweb for Node JS development services. We have a team of more than 650 experts who can handle the most challenging and complicated tasks. Also, our Node JS team will leverage the benefit of Node JS technology and deliver a scalable application without compromising its performance.Connect with us to forget about constant re-hiring! Let’s discuss your projects and find out how we can help you build the most powerful Node.js web applications.