“JavaScript
is on its way to a grand success. No other programming language is
evolving as JavaScript has in recent period. Almost every angle of a
software application especially web application is touched by
JavaScript. You want visually impressive app, JavaScript is there. You
want interactive, Event driven app, can be possible with JavaScript.
Now, with NodeJS, JavaScript has proved its unmatched potential in the
industry. Now, web developers can build efficient server side
communication with NodeJS. Just forget about that Apache Tomcat stuffs;
it’s time for NodeJS. Using Node.js isn’t as complex as it gives the
impression of. Although it requires a bit of understanding, developers
can largely enhance the code readability of their programs and build
scalable network applications at the same time. The software platform is
immensely popular amongst developers and rests on Google’s V8
JavaScript engine – and yes, even on the Chrome browser runtime. Before
going to Tips for NodeJS, I will like to put some effort on
understanding the tricks of NodeJS that enables JavaScript to be used as
a server side programming or networking”.
Tricks of NodeJS: Is
it fine to take a chance on NodeJS? Should you avoid the all time
industry leader i.e. Apache Tomcat for a newborn NodeJS? Will it be able
to handle your process efficiently? These are few questions that may
arise in your mind or your clients mind when asked to implement NodeJS
into the application. Let’s understand what enables NodeJS to handle
multiple requests at once. In traditional Tomcat server, multiple
requests are handled by multiple instances of the server. Instances mean
threads. Though the threads are highly scalable but it is an
inefficient way of handling multiple requests. Many times, due to heavy
load over the server, the application may crash or may lead to dead lock
of the application. On the other hand, NodeJS absolutely avoids the
threading concept; it rely over a newly emerge technology i.e.
Asynchronous I/O concurrent allocation. In the process, the NodeJS
server takes request from the event and gives them a token to wait and
send the request for data retrieval from the database. In between, the
server engaged in handling other requests as simple as it is. When the
data reaches at NodeJS server, it stops the current event handling and
serves the request that was asked to wait and then closes the event.
After that, it resumes the event handling process again. So, there will
be No deadlock, no locking of resource and nothing; things will work
smoothly and hence improving the productivity of the application.
Strict Mode in Coding: Very
helpful in finding out badly written JavaScript syntax! Developers can
use strict mode in Node.js and significantly improve their code syntax.
The tool lets developers recognize inadequately written syntax under
JavaScript and inscribe quality code syntax. The code runs simple ‘use
strict’; it makes the code not only well readable but also well
maintainable. As a result, the efficiency and performance of Code will
increase in a magical way also the cost of development decreases
significantly and the cost of maintenance gets neglected almost.
Node Shell: Developers
can benefit on their projects from the node shell – running ‘node’ and
writing code just how they would write in a text editor. To make a way
out though, the code does not support ‘exit’/’quit’ or analogous
commands! Hence, developers can write a valid Node.js statement that
states the way to exit the process. The command goes like -
$process.exit (0).
Do Not Use ‘*’ in Production Phase: Agreed,
having updated packages usually help with bug fixes and integrate new
functions or improvements. However, keeping ‘*” to have the latest
version often emerges as productive only when a developer has his
product in a developmental stage. But, it is very dicey to have ‘*’ in
production dependencies since the developer may not know which package
would rapture or induce his application to crash. In fact, the developer
must know which package is needed for his application instead of
putting a star. It is an inefficient way of programming and hampers the
performance and effectiveness of the application severely. Thus, steer
clear of using such notation in a major deployment phase.
Go Asynchronous: JavaScript
developers are recommended to use asynchronous APIs in their code,
particularly in performance critical parts. Since synchronous methods
tend to feature a possibility of locking up the entire application, it
is sensible to avoid synchronous components and ensure that external
libraries do not regress to synchronous calls. NodeJS is meant for
Asynchronous I/O to handle concurrent processes. So, it’s recommended to
use asynchronous calls for the process; though no direct impact but has
significant importance in terms of creating highly scalable
application.
No Node.js for Static Assets: Another
critical tip would be to avoid using Node.js for rendering static
assets. Developers should rather render static assets (like CSS &
images) on a standard web server. If something can be well handled in an
efficient manner; why you take risk on NodeJS performance? So, avoid
using NodeJS for static stuffs and use NodeJS for which it is intended
for. This will basically help them trim down the pressure on their
Node.js instance and help them boost their app performance.
Use Client Side Rendering: Developers
who use Node.js for JavaScript should depend on client side rendering
in their Node.js environment. This primarily enables one to eliminate
the possibility of latency and helps save bandwidth at the same time.
And, allowing Node.js to render server-side will do nothing but send
back an HTML page each time it is requested. Hence, developers should
try to employ client side rendering. By this process, the load on the
NodeJS server will decrease and hence increase in the productivity.
Think Modular forget about Monolithic:
Modularity is highly recommended while developing any web application.
It enables the application to be scalable one without much hassle.
Always adding bricks is better than developing a whole building at once.
Was a period then, when Monolithic was in high demand in the industry;
but, now industry has realized the importance of Modularity in any
application may it be web application or software application! With
modularity your application gets enough scope for rebuilding,
retrofitting and enhancements. So, as a smart developer you should
always try to develop modular web applications on the NodeJS platform.
In fact, it makes the Agile development a lot easier than before which
is in the trend of recent period.
Mindfire’s JavaScript development team has rich experience in core JavaScript programming
as well as various JavaScript Frameworks and Libraries e.g. Node.JS,
Backbone.JS, KnockOut.JS, Angular.JS, EXT.JS and creation of rapid web
application development solutions. To make use of the best offshore
software development services from Mindfire Solution, mail your
requirements to sales at Mindfire Solutions dot com.
