What is Node.js

node.js is a cross-platform Javascript Runtime Environment that allows us to run javascript code outside of a browser i.e. on a server.

Built on Google Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine, it uses a single-threaded, event-driven, non-blocking/asynchronous I/O model, making it lightweight, highly efficient, and ideal for building scalable, real-time network applications (like APIs, chat apps, and streaming services).

Node.js is asynchronous by nature. It uses a single-threaded synchronous language (JavaScript) to orchestrate massive amounts of asynchronous background tasks, allowing it to handle thousands of connections simultaneously without slowing down.