Most useful node.js packages hat you should try

Node.js is a powerful JavaScript-based platform built on Google Chrome’s JavaScript V8 Engine. By using the Node.js framework, you can run JavaScript on the server. It is used to develop fast and scalable network applications and other intensive web applications.Node.js is open source, completely free, and used by thousands of developers around the world.

Node.js uses an event-driven, on-blocking I/O model that makes it powerful and easy to use , capable of running smoothly across distributed devices for data-intensive real-time applications.

Features of Node.js :

Following are some of the important features that make Node.js one of the most sought after platforms in today’s world:

Asynchronous and Event Driven

All the APIs of. The Node.js library is asynchronous, that is, non-blocking. It basically means a Node.js based server never waits for an API to return data. The server moves to the next API after calling it and through a notification mechanism of Events of Node.js ,the server is able to get a response from the previous API call.

Very Fast

Since it is built on Google Chrome’s V8 JavaScript Engine, the Node.js library is very fast in code execution.

Single Threaded but Highly Scalable

Node.js uses a single threaded model combined with event looping. The event mechanism helps the server to respond to a request in a non-blocking way which makes the server highly scalable as opposed to the traditional servers that create some threads for the requests handling. A single threaded program is used by node.js and the same program can help provide service to a much larger number of requests as compared to the traditional servers like Apache HTTP Server.

No Buffering

No data is ever buffered by Node.js applications. These applications simply output the data in chunks.

License

MIT license holds the right of Node.js.

Introduction to NPM and Packages

NPM is the first and foremost primary package manager for the JavaScript programming language and is the default package manager for the Node.js runtime environment. It consists of a command line client(called as npm itself), and an online database of public and paid-for private packages, known as the npm registry.

A package may be defined as one or more modules (libraries) which are grouped (or ‘packaged’) together. These are commonly used by other packages.Node.js uses a package manager, in which you can find and install thousands of other packages ready for your use.

Some important NODE.JS packages

There are thousands of packages that can be used in node.js by a developer and each has their own significance and use. Below are some of the most popular and widely used packages:

React.js

React is a JavaScript library which is used in creating interactive User Interfaces (UI).It is used specifically for single-page applications. It is also helpful in creating reusable UI components.

This is maintained by the Facebook community and a community of individual developers.

Moment.js

Moment.js is another free and open source JavaScript library that removes the need to use the native JavaScript Date object directly. It is a lightweight date library mainly used for parsing, manipulating, validating and formatting dates.

Express.js

It is a web application framework for Node.js. It is mainly designed for building web applications and APIs. It also provides a robust set of features for mobile applications.

It serves as a high abstraction layer over node.js. It helps to create your own full backend.

Chalk

This is a terminal related library which is basically created for styling the terminal strings.   The API is simple, intuitive(chainable) and is one of the most widely used ones. Chalk comes with a simple to use composable API where the developer just chains and nests the styles as per their needs.

JS Path

This module is used to handle and transform files paths. It provides useful functions to interact with file paths. This module provides utilities for working with directory paths and files.

Body-parser

This is the node.js body parsing middleware. It is used to parse incoming request bodies in a middleware before your handlers. It extracts the entire body portion of an incoming request stream and exposes it onto the required target body.

Nodemailer

This module is for node.js applications for sending out emails. It was started in 2010 when there was no option for sending emails. Today it is used as a default for sending emails. It is a single module with zero dependencies.

Mongojs

This is a node.js module for mongo DB. MongoDB is a popular database for web based applications. MongoDB helps developers to write JavaScript for client, backend and database layer.

Winston

This is the most popular logging solution for node.js applications. It is also implemented to log errors and messages to a file and to a console. Each Winston logger can have multiple transports( a storage device for your logs).

Sharp

Sharp  is a very high speed node.js module used to convert large images in common formats to smaller, web friendly  formats like JPEG, PNG , WebP  and TIFF images of different dimensions. Resizing using this is fastest compared to other modules.

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