I know a LOT of people like it...but NodeJS...I still don't know why it's here.

Wondered same thing. Maybe it's easy to use? I've used it, not crazy about it, some ppl seem to keep things readable others provide callback hell. Idk

What do you think is wrong with it? It's honestly my favourite thing to develop in right now in combination with ExpressJS.

Because you can write a server in JS, pretty much. JS requires a lot less fuckery to do interesting things like socket programming. Plus there's a giant repository of tools (npm) for anything you could possibly need, and much much more than anyone really needs to be honest.

@AlgoRythm that's exactly all the things I like about it. You can do so much fun stuff with it without requiring lots and lots of code mess.

IMHO TypeScript makes JavaScript a real programming language. Only using it for browser though. Haven't done much server side.

@AlgoRythm see I just have no interest in writing a server in JS. I don't like the language enough to use it outside where I absolutely have to, aka the web.

@stijnie2210 I just don't see why you would use Node over other ecosystems. I just don't see what it brings to the table.

@DavidDeSloovere haven't tried TypeScript, but I've heard great things about it. I'm just hesitant to use a high level language that compiles to another high level language.

@stunix it's more transpiling really, every JavaScript code is actually already TypeScript...

@DavidDeSloovere Isn't a transpiler just slang for a source to source compiler?

@stunix I'm just trying to say that it's not like a language that gets compiled to assembler that you can't read. And you already can write TypeScript if you can write JavaScript. I believe JavaScript gets compiled by the browser engine or by the server in case of nodejs. JavaScript is still a script. And not executable by itself. Just give it a try. If you like it, it's a win; if you don't like it, at least you know.

@stunix Everyone has their preference of language ofcourse, but NodeJS is only getting more popular so I'm pretty sure it definitely brings something to the table. I've only been working with express with it but the possibilities with it are endless because of all the packages available.

The main thing I do with Node is developing electron applications.

Nodejs is the ninja langage， for those who love in the darkness of common people.

Nodejs really isn't bad. I just wonder why they thought to take a problematic dynamically typed language and then try to make it do things it was never designed to do in the first place. Someone was like "let's take the language everyone hates the most and make it a first class language. Then let's write a bunch of different typed languages that ultimately compile into said language instead of just writing a new fucking language."

I get it. If you write frontends and already know JavaScript you don't want to learn another language to write a backend...but there are so many languages out there that already do a great job at it.

@deusprogrammer I just really like writing code in NodeJS man. I don't like client side Javascript that much so how would you explain that? In my opinion it's just a matter of personal preference and not a matter of what's better.

Node.js is just a perfect Atwood's law example, it's nothing new, really.

Also, JavaScript is a very high-level language and it's quite easy to learn (but difficult to master at the same time) which is attracting tons of people who don't want to get their hands dirty with all this low-level programming stuff to create a server for their needs. But this kind of popularity isn't very good for the ecosystem because right now there is a huge pile of modules on npm which are either dead for years or just plain awful and I doubt it will get better in the future.
And of course it's not for everyone, there are people who don't like JS for obvious reasons, and it is not like it's a silver bullet or something.

If you're going to write JavaScript on the client end, why not just use it on the backend too? To be honest the use case for Node.js has evolved so much over the past years, I can see why it would be difficult for new developers to understand.

Node.js can be used to both create your server or micro service, as well as your entire bundled front end application. It's as flexible as any web developer would need it to be, and the monolithic Javascript community makes it easy to find any one plugin you need for any of the never ending frameworks available.

Knowing Python, C, C++, Java, and the .NET suite; I still believe JavaScript to be the greatest language/platform available to developers today. Don't like it's dynamic type nature? Use TypeScript. Are you a ruby or Python hacker? Use Coffeescript.

It's the best of all worlds.

With ES6 it's just pleasant to write code, it gets better with every day, you can write multiplatform apps with it (Electron, Cordova/PhoneGap).