Preface
While there have been quite a few attempts to get JavaScript working as a server-side language, Node.js (frequently just called Node) has been the first environment that's gained any traction. It's now used by companies such as Netflix, Uber and Paypal to power their web apps. Node allows for blazingly fast performance; thanks to its event loop model, common tasks like network connection and database I/O can be executed very quickly indeed.
From a beginner's point of view, one of Node's obvious advantages is that it uses JavaScript, a ubiquitous language that many developers are comfortable with. If you can write JavaScript for the client-side, writing server-side applications with Node should not be too much of a stretch for you.
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