Q: What is Node.js?

• Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine.

• It is maintained by the OpenJS Foundation.

• Node.js allows JavaScript to be executed outside of a web browser.

  This means that while JavaScript is traditionally associated with the web and browsers, Node.js extends its reach, allowing you to run JavaScript code on servers, desktops, and even embedded systems. This is why Node.js is often described with the phrase "Run JavaScript Everywhere."

• Node.js features an event-driven architecture and supports asynchronous I/O (non-blocking I/O). [Covered in depth in Episode 06]

• NodeJS was built by Ryan Daul in 2009.

• To run the JS, you always need an JS engine.
• Everywhere you write JS code, there is an JS engine, that executes the code.
• Ryan started with the Spider-Monkey Js Engine, which is found on Firefox. but in two days he tried using v8 and never looked back.

• earlier, Ryan was working independently, but there was a company named Joyent, and this company was working on something similar to NodeJS. and they hire Ryan to work under us, we will fund your project. big contribution to Joyent Company.

• The earlier name of Node.js was Web.js, but Ryan Dahl later renamed it to Node.js because it was intended to be used for more than just web servers.
• Apache HTTP Server was a blocking server, so Ryan wanted to create a non-blocking server, which is why Node.js is a non-blocking I/O.The advantage of a non-blocking server is that it can handle multiple requests with a smaller number of threads.
• In 2010, NPM (Node Package Manager) was introduced. NPM is a package manager for Node.js, and it played a critical role in the success of Node.js. Without NPM, Node.js might not have become as successful as it is today.