# Node.js
Confidence: high
Last verified: 2026-05-22
Generation: human_only


## TL;DR

Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime built on Google's V8 engine, created by Ryan Dahl in 2009. It enables JavaScript to run outside the browser — on servers, desktops, and embedded devices — with an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model. As of May 2026, Node.js has 117,329 GitHub stars and powers the backend of millions of applications including Netflix, PayPal, LinkedIn, and Uber. The current LTS version is Node 24.x (Active LTS since April 2026).

## Core Explanation

Node.js combines the V8 JavaScript engine with libuv (a C library for asynchronous I/O) and a core API written primarily in JavaScript. Its event loop architecture handles thousands of concurrent connections on a single thread without the overhead of thread-per-connection models:

- **Event Loop**: Single-threaded but asynchronous — I/O operations are delegated to the OS kernel via libuv's thread pool
- **Non-blocking I/O**: File system, network, and DNS operations never block the main thread
- **npm**: The world's largest package registry (2M+ packages)

Node.js is governed by the OpenJS Foundation, ensuring vendor-neutral stewardship.

## Recent Milestones

- **Node 20** (Oct 2023): Stable test runner, V8 11.3, permission model
- **Node 22** (Apr 2024): `require()` ES modules, V8 12.4, WebSocket client
- **Node 24** (Oct 2024, Active LTS Apr 2026): TypeScript stripping (`--experimental-strip-types`), V8 13.x, SQLite built-in
- **Node 24.14.1**: Current latest (May 2026)

## Further Reading

- [Node.js Docs](https://nodejs.org/docs/latest/): Official documentation
- [Node.js GitHub](https://github.com/nodejs/node): Source code (117K+ stars)