Chapter 1. What is Node.js

Node.js is based on the V8 JavaScript engine from Google and allows you to write server-side JavaScript applications. It provides an I/O model based on events and non-blocking operations that enables you to write efficient applications. Node.js also provides a large module ecosystem called npm. Check out Additional Resources for further reading on Node.js.

The Node.js runtime enables you to run Node.js applications and services on OpenShift while providing all the advantages and conveniences of the OpenShift platform such as rolling updates, continuous delivery pipelines, service discovery, and canary deployments. OpenShift also makes it easier for your applications to implement common microservice patterns such as externalized configuration, health check, circuit breaker, and failover.

Red Hat provides different supported releases of Node.js. For more information how to get support, see Getting Node.js and support from Red Hat.