The Node.js Philosophy
Learn different Node.js principles, such as its small cores, small modules, small surface area, its simplicity, and pragmatism.
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Every programming platform has its own philosophy, a set of principles and guidelines that are generally accepted by the community, or an ideology for doing things that influence both the evolution of the platform and how applications are developed and designed. Some of these principles arise from the technology itself, some of them are enabled by its ecosystem, some are just trends in the community, and others are evolutions of ideologies borrowed from other platforms. In Node.js, some of these principles come directly from its creator—Ryan Dahl—while others come from the people who contribute to the core or from charismatic figures in the community, and, finally, some are inherited from the larger JavaScript movement.
None of these rules are imposed and they should always be applied with common sense; however, they can prove to be tremendously useful when we’re looking for a source of inspiration while designing our software.
Small core
The Node.js core—understood as the Node.js runtime and built-in modules—has its foundations built on a few principles. One is having the smallest possible set of functionalities, while leaving the rest to the so-called userland (or userspace), which is the ecosystem of modules living outside the core. This principle has an enormous impact on the Node.js culture, as it gives freedom ...