The Node.js Runtime Renaissance

Presented at ConFoo in Montreal, Canada on the February 22nd 2023.

Abstract: Last year was an exciting year for Node.js developers, with the arrival of refreshed competition the Node.js runtime has seen many new features landing under a renewed focus on developer experience. Learn more about what's new and how to use these new features today.

Transcript

1. ConFoo 2023 Node.js Runtime ruyadorno.com The Renaissance
2. Ruy Adorno 
 Based in Montreal Node.js Collaborator & Releaser. 
 Working with Node.js things at Google @ruyadorno@fosstodon.org The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com
3. Chronology 2022 features What’s next in 2023 ToC ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com The Node.js Runtime Renaissance
4. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Chronology
5. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2009 Ryan Dahl writes the initial implementation of the Node.js runtime
6. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2010 npm initial release
7. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2011 npm bundled with Node.js
8. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2014 io.js fork
9. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2015 Node.js Foundation announced, Node.js and io.js merged back together
10. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2015 Welcome to the Renaissance era!
11. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2017 Ruy Adorno fi rst commit to the project
12. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2018 Ryan Dahl announces the work on Deno, a new JavaScript runtime
13. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2019 Node.js Foundation and the JS Foundation merge together forming the OpenJS Foundation
14. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2020 Deno v1.0 is released
15. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com The end of the small core Most collaborators these days are open to the idea of adding more features in order to provide a batteries-included experience in order to improve DX.
16. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2022 Welcome to the Industrial era!
17. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance Industrialization ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2022 Welcome to the Industrial era!
18. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 5 exciting recent features
19. Test Runner ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com The Node.js Runtime Renaissance
20. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Test Runner Shipped initially in v18.0.0, the test runner was initially designed to be a minimal viable test runner but has been getting more and more features since then.
21. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Test Runner - Mocks added in v18.13.0, v19.1.0 
 - Reporters added in v19.6.0 
 - Coverage added in v19.7.0 (this week!)
22. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com import assert from 'node:assert'; import test from 'node:test'; import {splitChars} from './split-chars.mjs'; test('test splitChars function', async t => { const input = 'a:b:c'; const expected = ['a', 'b', 'c']; assert.deepStrictEqual( splitChars(input), expected, 'should return expected characters' ); }) test-runner.mjs
23. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com $ node test-runner.mjs TAP version 13 # Subtest: test splitChars function ok 1 - test splitChars function --- duration_ms: 4.859125 ... 1..1 # tests 1 # pass 1 # fail 0 # cancelled 0 # skipped 0 # todo 0 # duration_ms 59.869375 shell
24. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com $ node --test TAP version 13 # Subtest: test splitChars function ok 1 - test splitChars function --- duration_ms: 4.859125 ... 1..1 # tests 1 # pass 1 # fail 0 # cancelled 0 # skipped 0 # todo 0 # duration_ms 59.869375 shell
25. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com How the test runner finds what files to run - skip node_modules folders 
 - if a test folder is found, recursively fi nd all .js .cjs .mjs fi les 
 - in other folders, match: 
 - Files named test: ^test$ 
 - Filenames that start with test-: ^test-.+ 
 - Filenames that ends with -test: .+[\.\-\_]test$
26. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Learn more https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v18.x/docs/api/test.html
27. File Watcher ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com The Node.js Runtime Renaissance
28. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com File Watcher First introduced in v18.11.0 and v16.19.0, the fi le watcher is a native way to have the node runtime reload anytime watched fi les are modi fi ed.
29. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com import assert from 'node:assert'; import test from 'node:test'; import {splitChars} from './split-chars.mjs'; test('test splitChars function', async t => { const input = 'a:b:c'; const expected = ['a', 'b', 'c']; assert.deepStrictEqual( splitChars(input), expected, 'should return expected characters' ); }) test-runner.mjs shell $ node --watch test-runner.mjs (node:42453) ExperimentalWarning: Watch mode is 
 an experimental feature and might change at any 
 time (Use `node --trace-warnings ...` to show where 
 the warning was created) TAP version 13 # Subtest: test splitChars function ok 1 - test splitChars function --- duration_ms: 2.681209 ... 1..1 # tests 1 # pass 1 # fail 0 # cancelled 0 # skipped 0 # todo 0 # duration_ms 6.377 Completed running 'test-runner.mjs'
30. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com export function splitChars(str) { return str.split(':'); } split-chars.mjs shell $ node --watch test-runner.mjs (node:42453) ExperimentalWarning: Watch mode is 
 an experimental feature and might change at any 
 time (Use `node --trace-warnings ...` to show where 
 the warning was created) TAP version 13 # Subtest: test splitChars function ok 1 - test splitChars function --- duration_ms: 2.681209 ... 1..1 # tests 1 # pass 1 # fail 0 # cancelled 0 # skipped 0 # todo 0 # duration_ms 6.377 Completed running 'test-runner.mjs'
31. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com export function splitChars(str) { return str.split('d'); } split-chars.mjs shell Restarting 'test-runner.mjs' TAP version 13 # Subtest: test splitChars function not ok 1 - test splitChars function --- duration_ms: 3.022458 failureType: 'testCodeFailure' error: 'should return expected characters' code: 'ERR_ASSERTION' 0: 'a' 1: 'b' 2: 'c' 0: 'a:b:c' operator: 'deepStrictEqual' ... 1..1 # tests 1 # pass 0 # fail 1 # duration_ms 6.597791 Failed running 'test-runner.mjs'
32. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com export function splitChars(str) { return str.split(':'); } split-chars.mjs shell Restarting 'test-runner.mjs' TAP version 13 # Subtest: test splitChars function ok 1 - test splitChars function --- duration_ms: 2.054583 ... 1..1 # tests 1 # pass 1 # fail 0 # cancelled 0 # skipped 0 # todo 0 # duration_ms 4.697125 Completed running 'test-runner.mjs'
33. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com More options - --watch-path specify what exact folders / fi les to watch, disable watching of imported modules 
 - --watch-preserve-output disable clearing the console when watch mode restarts the process
34. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Learn more https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v18.x/docs/api/cli.html#--watch
35. Argument Parser ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com The Node.js Runtime Renaissance
36. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Argument Parser Initially added in v18.3.0 and v16.17.0, the argument parser is an opinionated way to handle command line arguments in your apps without the need of an extra package.
37. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Argument Parser Made in collaboration between the maintainers of yargs and Commander , two of the most popular argument parsers.
38. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Argument Parser Currently an experimental API but should be promoted to stable soon. Unlikely to have changes at this point.
39. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com import { parseArgs } from 'node:util'; const { values } = parseArgs({ options: { active: { type: 'boolean' }, pathname: { type: 'string' }, }, }); if (Object.keys(values).length) { console.table(values) } cli-parse-args.mjs
40. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com $ node cli-parse-args.mjs --active \ --pathname=./cli-parse-args.mjs ┌──────────┬────────────────────────┐ │ (index) │ Values │ ├──────────┼────────────────────────┤ │ active │ true │ │ pathname │ './cli-parse-args.mjs' │ └──────────┴────────────────────────┘ shell
41. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Highly customizable The argument parser has much more options such as support to positional values, loose mode, providing default values, etc.
42. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Learn more https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v18.x/docs/api/util.html#utilparseargscon fi g
43. Fetch ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com The Node.js Runtime Renaissance
44. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Fetch After many years in the making, the fetch() method is fi nally available in Node.js starting at version v18.3.0 and up.
45. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com const res = await fetch('https://nodejs.org/dist/index.json', { method: 'GET', headers: [ ['Accept', 'application/json'], ], }) const data = await res.json() const versions = data .map(i => ({ version: i.version, date: i.date })) .slice(0, 10) console.table(versions) fetch-something.mjs
46. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com $ node fetch-something.mjs ┌─────────┬───────────┬──────────────┐ │ (index) │ version │ date │ ├─────────┼───────────┼──────────────┤ │ 0 │ 'v19.7.0' │ '2023-02-21' │ │ 1 │ 'v19.6.1' │ '2023-02-16' │ │ 2 │ 'v19.6.0' │ '2023-02-01' │ │ 3 │ 'v19.5.0' │ '2023-01-24' │ │ 4 │ 'v19.4.0' │ '2023-01-05' │ │ 5 │ 'v19.3.0' │ '2022-12-14' │ │ 6 │ 'v19.2.0' │ '2022-11-29' │ │ 7 │ 'v19.1.0' │ '2022-11-14' │ │ 8 │ 'v19.0.1' │ '2022-11-04' │ │ 9 │ 'v19.0.0' │ '2022-10-17' │ └─────────┴───────────┴──────────────┘ shell
47. Stream iterator methods and Stream Web API helpers ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com The Node.js Runtime Renaissance
48. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Stream iterator methods A variety of stream iterator methods have been introduced between v17.4.0 and v17.5.0. Some of these methods may also be available in v16.4.0.
49. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com import { Readable } from 'node:stream'; const s = Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]); const mapped = [] s.on('data', data => { mapped.push(data * 2); }) s.on('end', () => { for (const m of mapped) { console.log(m) } }) map-stream-before.mjs map-stream-iterator.mjs import { Readable } from 'node:stream'; const s = Readable.from([1, 2, 3, 4]); const mapped = s.map(i => i * 2); for await (const m of mapped) { console.log(m); }
50. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Web Stream API Utility Consumers Added in v16.7.0, providing helper methods to help collect stream data.
51. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com import { Readable } from 'node:stream'; const s = Readable .from(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']); let res = ''; s.on('data', data => { res += data; }); s.on('end', () => { console.log(res); }); read-stream-before.mjs read-stream-utility-consumer.mjs import { Readable } from 'node:stream'; import { text } from 'node:stream/consumers'; const s = Readable .from(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']); const res = await text(s); console.log(res);
52. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Web Stream API Utility Consumers There are also utility consumers for arrayBuffer , blob , buffer and json .
53. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Learn more https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v18.x/docs/api/stream.html#readablemapfn-options 
 https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v18.x/docs/api/webstreams.html#utility-consumers
54. ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com 2023 The Node.js Runtime Renaissance Coming up this year
55. Single Executable 
 Apps ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com The Node.js Runtime Renaissance
56. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Single Executable Apps (Just landed!) Added in v19.7.0, there’s now a way to package your app code along with the Node.js runtime so that you can distribute a single executable binary fi le.
57. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Learn more https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v19.x/api/single-executable-applications.html
58. Process-based Permissions ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com The Node.js Runtime Renaissance
59. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Process-based Permissions (Work in progress) New options to restrict access to speci fi c resources (such as fi le system, child process, workers) during execution.
60. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Process-based Permissions Very likely to still change, this new permission model is going to be behind a fl ag: --experimental-permission
61. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com $ node --experimental-permission index.js node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:171 const result = internalModuleStat(filename); ^ Error: Access to this API has been restricted code: 'ERR_ACCESS_DENIED', permission: ‘FileSystemRead' $ node --experimental-permission --allow-fs-read=* --allow-fs-write=./tmp index.js Hello world! (node:19836) ExperimentalWarning: Permission is an experimental feature (Use `node --trace-warnings ...` to show where the warning was created) shell
62. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Learn more https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/44004
63. The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com Want to learn even more? Join one of the Working Groups meetings: https://nodejs.org/calendar 
 Join the OpenJS Foundation Slack: https://slack-invite.openjsf.org Repository: https://github.com/nodejs/node 
 Website: https://nodejs.org
64. Merci! @ruyadorno@fosstodon.org The Node.js Runtime Renaissance ConFoo 2023 ruyadorno.com