Ask HN: Why do you think Node.js is catching on?

#1

Post by howard_yeh » Thu, Sep 02, 2010, 5:31 PM UTC

Let's disregard technical merits. Some questions:

1) what are the sticking points? 2) can you see it becoming legit? 3) is the turf war worth fighting in? 4) how might it break into the mainstream?

Re: Ask HN: Why do you think Node.js is catching on?

#2

Post by devmonk » Thu, Sep 02, 2010, 5:50 PM UTC

I'm not an expert, but from what I've seen:

1. It's event-driven and javascript.

2. It already is.

3. It shouldn't be a turf war. It isn't for everything. But, I'd rather write in javascript than erlang, scala, haskell, etc. and I'm sure others would be in the same boat.

4. Heroku, etc. are starting to host, so it kind of already is. Any fast, simple web-based service could be a good candidate for node.js.

See: http://debuggable.com/posts/understanding-node-js:4bd98440-4...

Re: Ask HN: Why do you think Node.js is catching on?

#3

Post by driverdan » Thu, Sep 02, 2010, 5:57 PM UTC

While there have been some very good attempts at making server-side JS (SSJS) work, IMO NodeJS is the first to get it right. With the growing ubiquity of JS, the scalability of NodeJS, and the explosion of JS-based document storage its success is not surprising.

The ability to create a scalable platform that uses the same language from data storage to UI means developers can focus on being a JS expert without having to spread their time and abilities thin being mediocre in many languages.

Re: Ask HN: Why do you think Node.js is catching on?

#4

Post by digispaghetti » Thu, Sep 02, 2010, 6:00 PM UTC

1) At the moment it's still very 'low level'. While there are certainly some small frameworks (ExpressJS, Geddy) there isn't anything near the level of stuff available for other languages like Rails, Django or CakePHP.

2) See the node knockout - As you can see some neat stuff is already being built on it, so yes. Also, it's just been announced that there is integration with WebOS, the Palm/HP mobile platform so now it's not just for web apps, but for mobile apps too.

3) Like devmonk it isn't for everything, but I could see it fighting it out with PHP as the base language for web apps - it's as simple to install, and with lots of developers in that space already knowing JavaScript in writing their own apps, it could compete to finally push PHP out (or maybe it's just my wishful thinking).

4) Once some of the modules around it stabilise (not far off), and a Rails/Django-type framework becomes more common, then I think that's when it will hit mainstream.

Re: Ask HN: Why do you think Node.js is catching on?

#5

Post by smoody » Thu, Sep 02, 2010, 6:57 PM UTC

driverdan wrote: post #3

While there have been some very good attempts at making server-side JS (SSJS) work, IMO NodeJS is the first to get it right. With the growing ubiquity of JS, the scalability of NodeJS, and the explosion of JS-based document storage its success is not surprising. The ability to create a scalable platform that uses the same language from data storage to UI means developers can focus on being a JS expert without having…

I totally agree re: single language/data model instead of spreading time and abilities. It is definitely cool to know a variety of programming languages (and I've used about a dozen of them in commercial work). But it's great to work with a single language from top to bottom -- like we do when writing native apps). In my opinion, it frees-up brain space and cycles.