Node.js Architecture

“A Good Beginning is Half the Battle Won”, once a wise man said this.

Well, I can’t think of any better quote that would suffice your (as a backend developer) situation while starting a new project. Laying out a project structure during the development project is one of the most difficult parts of the development process. Obviously, it’s not as easy as we think.

Therefore, leveraging one of the most popular back-end technologies – Node.js makes it easy for you to build fast and highly scalable applications while handling millions of requests simultaneously with high throughput.

So, let’s start with the overview of Node.js.

Node.js is a popular JavaScript-based platform that’s built on Google Chorme’s JavaScript V8 engine. The latest version – NodeJS 21, offers an upgraded V8 engine to v11.8. Since Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model, it is used to create I/O-intensive web applications, including single-page applications, video streaming, online chatting apps, and other web applications. This structure allows Node.js developers to create efficient and lightweight web applications.

That’s why big giants like Netflix, Trello, Twitter, Uber, etc, use Node JS web development services and reap benefits by adopting its features and architecture. Apart from that, many organizations like Netflix witnessed a 70% reduction in startup loading time. Additionally, the front-end to back-end transition significantly improved, which decreased latency. And lastly, adopting Node.js made scaling simpler because it is asynchronous and non-blocking.

In addition, Node.js is used by thousands of developers around the world, as it’s completely free and open-source. Node.js brings many business benefits to the table, making it a better choice than other server-side platforms like PHP or Java (in many cases).

In this post, we are going to talk about the Node.js project structure. Also, we will talk about Node.js architecture, starting on the client side and ending on the server, along with why Node.js application architecture is popular. We will also share some Node.js best practices to help you manage your Node.js applications. But before that, let’s understand why architecture is important in your project.

Having said this earlier, choosing the right project architecture will boost your starting point. And there, you have already won the half-battle. Eventually, you will be able to handle changing needs in the future. Isn’t it what you want as a developer?

Actually, the wrong-chosen project architecture often leads to:

• Code that is difficult to read and understand slows down the development process and makes it more difficult to test the final product.
• Unnecessary repetition makes managing and maintaining code more complex.
• Implementing new features is challenging without breaking existing code.

That’s where the clean architecture of Node.js comes to the rescue. With the utilization of Node.js architecture best practices, you can:

• Write readable and clean code
• Avoid repetition
• Integrate new features without disrupting existing code
• Write reusable pieces of code across the application

Node.js offers a “Single-Threaded Event Loop” architecture to manage concurrent requests without creating multiple threads and using fewer threads to utilize fewer resources. That’s why developers prefer Node.js architecture to take the advantages Node.js has.

Another reason for the popularity of Node.js is its callback mechanism and JavaScript-event-based Model. Node.js event loop architecture enables Node.js to execute blocking I/O operations in a non-blocking way. Also, you can easily scale your Node.js application with its single thread than multi-thread per request under ordinary web loads.

Actually, Node.js has two types of threading:

• Multi-Threading
• Single Threading

Multi-threading is a program execution model that creates multiple threads within a process. These threads execute independently but concurrently share process resources. During this multiple-threading process, a thread is chosen each time a request is made until all the allotted threads are exhausted. While a thread is busy, the server can’t proceed; it must wait until a free thread is available. As a result, poor and slow applications can negatively impact customer experience.

However, Node.js uses a single-threaded processing model. Single-threaded architecture handles Input/Output operations by using event loops to handle blocking operations in a non-blocking way, whereas multi-thread architecture processes every request as a single thread.

This is what the creator of Node.js, Ryan Dahl, had in mind and showcased to the dev community when he introduced Node.js. And it’s one of the main reasons why developers choose Node.js for app development.

This was the basics of Node.js project architecture. Now let’s go further to understand the Node.js architecture pattern and its components.

Generally, server-side technologies like ASP.NET, PHP, Java, and Ruby use multi-threaded models. For each client request, traditional architectures create threads. With Node.js Single Threaded Event Loop Model Architecture, Node.js prevents creating multiple threads for each request. As a result, all client requests are processed through a single thread.

Moreover, this single-threaded architecture is also referred to as the event-driven architecture of Node.js. Hence, Node.js is capable of managing several clients at once.

Node.js adheres to two fundamentals of its architecture:

• Non-blocking I/O operations
• Asynchronous paradigm

However, these two concepts are comparable to JavaScript’s event-based model. Now is the time to understand the components of Node.js application architecture and how it functions.

Node.js architecture is made up of six elements, which are:

1) Requests: The incoming requests can be blocking (complex) or non-blocking (simple), depending upon the specific tasks users want to perform in a web application.

2) Node.js Server: Node.js server is the foundation of the architecture. As a server-side platform, the Node.js server not only accepts requests from users but also processes these requests and sends those responses to corresponding users.

3) Event Queue: Event Queue in the Node.js server stores the incoming client requests and passes them one-by-one into Event Loop.

4) Event Loop: This is an infinite loop – that never ends. It continues to receive requests from the event queue, process them, and return the corresponding response to the clients.

This event loop has six phases that are repeated until no code is left to execute. The six phases of the event loop are:

• Timers
• I/O Callbacks
• Waiting / Preparation
• I/O Polling
• setImmediate() callbacks
• Close events

5) Thread Pool: The Thread Pool in Node.js backend architecture contains the threads for carrying out tasks required to process client requests.

6) External Resources: These External Resources are used for blocking client requests. They generally handle multiple blocking requests, like data storage, computation, etc.

The above-mentioned components of Node.js modular architecture play the most important role in Node.js web development. Let’s understand how these components function and what flow Node.js architecture follows.

As we can see in the above NodeJS architecture diagram, incoming and outgoing requests fall under two categories.

Here, the incoming requests can either be basic, which equates to non-blocking, or complex, which equates to blocking. It actually relies on the tasks that web applications or software users are expected to do.

• Queries are used to find specific data within databases.
• Delete queries and sending requests to delete specific pieces of data are two examples of eliminating data.
• When you want to update data, you either have to send a request to edit or update a specific piece of data or execute an updating query on a specific table row to update a particular database record.
• Node.js collects the client requests as they come in and adds them to its Event Queue.
• The event loop then receives each incoming request individually to decide whether it requires external resources. If so, these requests are then assigned to external resources; otherwise, the process moves on to the next stage.
• Event Loop handles non-blocking (simple) requests using I/O polling and returns them to the associated clients as a response.

After the phases mentioned above, each complex request is granted a single thread from the thread pool. This thread allocates external resources—like file systems, databases, etc.—to handle specific blocking requests.

The response is sent back to the event loop as soon as the task is finished, which then transmits it to the client, making it a single-threaded event loop model.

Now you must have got some idea about single-thread work in Node.js architecture, but you must be wondering how it works. So, let’s discuss this in detail now.

Generally, we misunderstand Node.js as performing all operations in a single thread. You must be wondering how it could compete with multi-threaded frameworks.

Well, the answer is Chrome’s JavaScript V8 engine. It serves as the foundation of Node.js – an effective JavaScript runtime. This only defines that it’s built upon the single-threaded architecture of JavaScript. Therefore, a single main thread processes each request that comes from the client.

Moreover, the event loop in Node.js architecture executes (otherwise blocking) I/O operations in a non-blocking manner. It continuously monitors the asynchronous tasks (like code in your callback functions). And once they are completed, they push them back to the execution queue.

“Event Loop” is the main component of the Node.js Processing paradigm. If we understand this concept well, it becomes easier for us to have a good command on Node.js Internals.

When it comes to an asynchronous task, it has the option to set it aside and keep working on other tasks until the asynchronous task is complete. On the other hand, if you engage in prolonged, CPU-intensive tasks, it will spend too much time on one task, delaying others. In order to properly utilize the switching mechanism of the event loop, the basic idea is to avoid blocking the event loop for expensive tasks.

For the same reason, avoiding serving assets from a Node server is recommended. A CDN or S3 bucket works best for serving HTML, CSS, JavaScript files, and images. Moreover, Node.js is the right choice for applications that require numerous I/O. If you implement that correctly, the single-threaded event loop in Node.js architecture can provide performance comparable to that of an application with multiple threads.

Node.js comes up with libraries of functions (packages and modules) that allows users to import from NPM (Node Package Manager) and use them in their code. If you have no idea how to install NPM, you can simply read our detailed guide – how to install Node.js and NPM on Windows and Mac.

And once you install NPM on your system, a simple server is created.

The Node.js architecture offers several advantages, making the server-side platform stand out among every other server-side language. Moreover, the Node.js-developed server is always faster and more responsive compared to the one created using the other server development technologies.

Let’s go through some important advantages of Node.js architecture here.

Handling multiple concurrent clients requests fast and easy: Due to the event queue and thread pool, the Node.js server handles numerous incoming requests efficiently.

No multiple threads are required: Since the event loops perform the requests one by one, you don’t need to create multiple threads. In short, a single thread is capable of managing an incoming blocking request.

Fewer resources and memory are required: The way Node.js server handles incoming requests requires fewer resources and memory. Since the requests are processed one after the other, the overall process doesn’t tax the memory that much.

When it comes to Node.js web application architecture, it offers rapid development and competes with Go, Ruby on Rails, Python, and Java. Let’s go through the benefits of using Node.js architecture before you opt for NodeJS development services & solutions.

1. Language Sharing Across the Stack

Node.js enables developers to use it for both front-end and back-end development with the help of JavaScript. Thus, it makes the language more consistent across the entire application. Well, this is where it stands out amongst other languages for front-end like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and back-end languages – PHP, Java, and Ruby on Rails.

In addition, Node.js allows you to use exchange code between client and server apps. Also, you can leverage the JavaScript language for the entire development process, allowing for enhanced communication between back-end and front-end development teams.

Lastly, Node.js developers can have the option to either use JavaScript for dynamically typed or TypeScript for static type. So, you can easily choose any of the options tailored to your specific requirements.

2. Scalability

By offering amazing features of non-blocking I/O and kernel’s worker pool, you can easily build scalable Node.js applications. The developed Node.js application can manage thousands of concurrent client requests without disrupting the process and system. The lightweight nature lets you take advantage of Node.js microservices architecture. Therefore, it is no wonder why organizations are on the verge of developing microservices with NodeJS.

In fact, if we want to consider the real example of Node.js microservices architecture, it’s Walmart. After adopting the NodeJS application structure, Walmart has witnessed:

• 20% conversion growth
• 98% increase in mobile orders
• 100% uptime on Black Friday or Boxing Day sales, handling over 500 million page views
• 40% cost-savings on hardware

3. Faster Speed and Performance

Faster speed and better performance are the major benefits of leveraging the event-driven programming of Node.js architecture compared to other technologies. It helps you build a simple program by synchronizing the occurrence of multiple events. Moreover, its non-blocking I/O operations also play a vital role when it comes to speed. However, it enhances the entire run-time environment as the code executes faster.

4. Native Support in AWS

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the most popular hosting platforms in the market, accounting for 32% of the cloud market. Node.js extends its support for AWS natively and can easily integrate with the platform.

• An Amazon in-browser IDE (Integrated Development Environment) – Cloud9 allows you to write and modify code right in the browser. Since it has the lowest entry barriers for a scalable microservice, it’s compatible with Node.js.
• You can utilize JavaScript with AWS tools – Cloud9 IDE and Node.js with IoT SDK of Amazon and AWS Cloud Development Kit for JavaScript. Moreover, SDK also supports TypeScript here.

5. Security

Safety and security are the most important factor of any software application. You can’t put the safety and security of the application you developed at risk. Here, Node.js adheres to security standards protocols like SSL/TSL, HTTPS, web crypto API, and others.

6. Flexibility

When you are on the verge of modifying code in the Node.js application, you don’t have to worry about the entire development method. Because only specific Node is affected by the modified code. Hence, Node.js is the right choice for web application development when it comes to the initial build stage and ongoing application maintenance.

Now we can come to the essential topic – a set of rules and best practices to improve the Node.js developer experience.

Below are the points which can help you establish the perfect NodeJS application structure by implementing the Node.js project architecture best practices.

Adopt a Layered Approach

Utilizing the popular Node.js framework – Express.js, you can adhere to the “separation of concerns” methodology during the development. With the help of this dividing the codebase approach, you can easily divide the codebase into three categories – business logic, database, and API routes and can separate the business logic from Node.js API routes. As a result, it avoids complex background processes.

Controller Layer: This layer has information about the API routes. You can deconstruct the request objects with route handler functions. Also, you can fetch the required information in the request and pass them on to the service layer for processing.

Service Layer: The service layer defines the business logic related to the application. It has classes and methods that follow SOLID programming principles of object-oriented programming. It also performs singular responsibilities. This layer also defines the processing logic for various routes.

Data Access Layer: This data access layer is responsible for handling the database from reading, writing, or updating the database. Also, it defines SQL queries, database connections, document models, ORMs, and other related code.

This Node.js three-layer architecture setup functions as a reliable arrangement for Node.js applications. This helps you develop an application with easier to code, maintain, debug, and test.

Developing a custom application in Node.js can be challenging. But NodeJS offers an impressive list of amazing features that make working with it a breeze.

As a Node.js development company, we hope you have got a basic understanding of Node.js enterprise application architecture, a set of rules, and Node.js best practices for project architecture.

We also hope that our in-depth post helps you choose the right direction when establishing what type of architecture you are going to use. And no wonder why Node.js is a very popular technology that large organizations have adopted, creating many Node.JS developer job opportunities.

So, if you are a startup or an organization and planning to reap the benefits of the Node.js architecture for your project, consider Radixweb without having any second thoughts. As a renowned Node.js development company, we help you build dynamic and robust web applications using the Node.js platform. We have a talented pool of Node.js developers who always strive to help you build unique products and pave the path to success.

What are you waiting for? Hire Node.js experts from Radixweb and benefit from our comprehensive back-end solutions for your organization. Let’s connect for more information.