What is non-blocking I/O in Node.js?
The ability to handle thousands of concurrent connections through the event loop. While one request waits for I/O, the loop processes other requests. This is essential for web servers and is a key difference from browser JavaScript.
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More FAQs in How JavaScript Runs on the Server With Node.js
Node.js uses V8, Google's JavaScript engine, to compile and execute JavaScript on the server. It wraps V8 with libuv for async I/O, giving JavaScript system access like file and network operations that browsers do not have.
On the server, JavaScript has access to the file system, network, and processes. There is no DOM, no window, no browser sandbox. You build HTTP servers and connect to databases instead of manipulating web pages.
Before Node.js, JavaScript only ran in browsers. Backend development required a different language. Node.js let JavaScript run on the server, enabling full-stack JavaScript and reducing the need for developers to learn multiple languages.
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