This chapter will require access to a terminal, a browser of your choice, and the internet.

Node.js follows a release schedule and adopts a long-term support (LTS) policy. The release schedule is based on the Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/) specification.

According to the Node.js release policy, Node.js undergoes two major updates annually, scheduled for April and October. These major releases may introduce alterations to the API that could potentially break compatibility. However, the Node.js project strives to keep the number and severity of such disruptive changes to a minimum, aiming to lessen any inconvenience for end users.

Even-numbered major releases of Node.js are promoted to LTS after 6 months. Even-numbered releases are always scheduled for release in April and promoted to LTS in October. LTS releases are supported for up to 30 months. It is recommended to use LTS versions of Node.js in production. The purpose of the LTS schedule is to provide stability to end users and also to provide a predictable timeline of releases...

The Node.js project provides comprehensive API reference documentation. The Node.js API documentation is a critical resource for understanding which APIs are available in the version of Node.js that you’re using. The Node.js documentation also describes how to interact with APIs, including which arguments a given method accepts and the method’s return value.

This recipe will show how to access and navigate the Node.js API documentation.

Getting ready

You will need access to a browser of your choice and an internet connection to access the Node.js API documentation.

How to do it…

This recipe is going to demonstrate how to navigate the Node.js API documentation. Follow these steps:

1. First, navigate to https://nodejs.org/api/ in your browser.

   You’ll see the Node.js API documentation for the most recent version of Node.js:

Figure 1.1 – Node.js API documentation...

The formal specification for the JavaScript language is ECMAScript. New JavaScript features make their way into Node.js via updates to the underlying V8 JavaScript engine that the Node.js runtime is built on top of. ECMAScript has annual updates that provide new JavaScript language features and syntax.

New major versions of Node.js tend to include a significant upgrade to the V8 engine. Node.js version 22.0.0 was released with V8 version 12.4. However, the V8 version may be upgraded during the lifetime of Node.js 22.

Updated versions of V8 bring underlying performance improvements and new JavaScript language features and syntax to the Node.js runtime. This recipe will showcase a couple of the newer JavaScript language features that have been introduced in Node.js 22.

Getting ready

For this recipe, you will need to have Node.js 22 installed. You will also need to have access to a terminal.

How to do it…

In this recipe...

The Node.js event loop is a fundamental concept in Node.js that enables it to perform asynchronous and non-blocking operations efficiently. It’s a mechanism that’s responsible for managing the execution of code in an event-driven environment. Understanding the Node.js event loop is crucial for building scalable and responsive applications, especially when dealing with input/output-bound tasks such as reading files, making network requests, or handling multiple client connections simultaneously.

Getting ready

You will need to have Node.js 22 installed. You will also need to have access to a terminal.

How to do it…

In this recipe, we will create two files. One will demonstrate us blocking the event loop, while the other will demonstrate not blocking the event loop. Follow these steps:

1. Create a file named blocking.js.
2. Add the following code:

   // Blocking function
   function blockingOperation() {
     console...