Technology
Node.js
Node is how the same language runs on the server and in the tool chain. We keep it boring: one version, clear scripts, no mystery globals.
What it is
Node.js is the runtime that put JavaScript on the server. It is how Next.js builds, how a lot of APIs listen, how CLIs in the JavaScript world run. Netflix, PayPal, LinkedIn, and Uber all bet on it early for I/O-heavy services.
It is not a language. It is the engine (V8) plus a library for files, network, and processes. npm is the package universe that grew around it. If your front end is TypeScript, Node is probably how it compiles and how the preview starts.
What it does
Teams use Node for APIs, server-rendered sites, build tooling, queues, and serverless functions. It is the default companion to a React or Vue UI because the team already speaks JavaScript.
We run Node where the product already does. We keep the version pinned. We do not put business-critical ledgers in a process just because the UI is JavaScript.
Why we use it
The runtime the product already shares with the page.
Typed APIs, scheduled work, and scripts in the same repo as the UI. Integrations that used to live in a Zap nobody owned become route handlers you can read. The CMS and the app speak one runtime.
If it only runs on a laptop we keep, it is not a handover.
Built on it
Netflix
An early public Node.js adopter for the streaming web stack.
PayPal
Rebuilt parts of the payment web experience on Node.
Moved mobile back ends to Node to handle a lot of connections cheaply.
Uber
Has run large matching and dispatch services on Node.
NASA
Has used Node in mission-support and public web tools.
Tell us what needs to ship.
You use a working prototype before the production build goes ahead.