About Node.js®
As an asynchronous event-driven JavaScript runtime, Node.js is designed to build scalable network applications. In the following "hello world" example, many connections can be handled concurrently. Upon each connection, the callback is fired, but if there is no work to be done, Node.js will sleep.
const { function createServer<Request extends typeof IncomingMessage = typeof IncomingMessage, Response extends typeof ServerResponse = typeof ServerResponse>(requestListener?: RequestListener<Request, Response>): Server<Request, Response> (+1 overload)
Returns a new instance of
{@link
Server
}
.
The `requestListener` is a function which is automatically
added to the `'request'` event.
```js
import http from 'node:http';
// Create a local server to receive data from
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
res.end(JSON.stringify({
data: 'Hello World!',
}));
});
server.listen(8000);
```
```js
import http from 'node:http';
// Create a local server to receive data from
const server = http.createServer();
// Listen to the request event
server.on('request', (request, res) => {
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
res.end(JSON.stringify({
data: 'Hello World!',
}));
});
server.listen(8000);
```createServer } = var require: NodeJS.Require
(id: string) => any
Used to import modules, `JSON`, and local files.require('node:http');
const const hostname: "127.0.0.1"
hostname = '127.0.0.1';
const const port: 3000
port = 3000;
const const server: Server<typeof IncomingMessage, typeof ServerResponse>
server = createServer<typeof IncomingMessage, typeof ServerResponse>(requestListener?: RequestListener<typeof IncomingMessage, typeof ServerResponse> | undefined): Server<...> (+1 overload)
Returns a new instance of
{@link
Server
}
.
The `requestListener` is a function which is automatically
added to the `'request'` event.
```js
import http from 'node:http';
// Create a local server to receive data from
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
res.end(JSON.stringify({
data: 'Hello World!',
}));
});
server.listen(8000);
```
```js
import http from 'node:http';
// Create a local server to receive data from
const server = http.createServer();
// Listen to the request event
server.on('request', (request, res) => {
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
res.end(JSON.stringify({
data: 'Hello World!',
}));
});
server.listen(8000);
```createServer((req: IncomingMessage
req, res: ServerResponse<IncomingMessage> & {
req: IncomingMessage;
}
res) => {
res: ServerResponse<IncomingMessage> & {
req: IncomingMessage;
}
res.ServerResponse<Request extends IncomingMessage = IncomingMessage>.statusCode: number
When using implicit headers (not calling `response.writeHead()` explicitly),
this property controls the status code that will be sent to the client when
the headers get flushed.
```js
response.statusCode = 404;
```
After response header was sent to the client, this property indicates the
status code which was sent out.statusCode = 200;
res: ServerResponse<IncomingMessage> & {
req: IncomingMessage;
}
res.OutgoingMessage<IncomingMessage>.setHeader(name: string, value: number | string | readonly string[]): ServerResponse<IncomingMessage> & {
req: IncomingMessage;
}
Sets a single header value. If the header already exists in the to-be-sent
headers, its value will be replaced. Use an array of strings to send multiple
headers with the same name.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
res: ServerResponse<IncomingMessage> & {
req: IncomingMessage;
}
res.Stream.Writable.end(chunk: any, cb?: () => void): ServerResponse<IncomingMessage> & {
req: IncomingMessage;
} (+2 overloads)
Calling the `writable.end()` method signals that no more data will be written
to the `Writable`. The optional `chunk` and `encoding` arguments allow one
final additional chunk of data to be written immediately before closing the
stream.
Calling the
{@link
write
}
method after calling
{@link
end
}
will raise an error.
```js
// Write 'hello, ' and then end with 'world!'.
import fs from 'node:fs';
const file = fs.createWriteStream('example.txt');
file.write('hello, ');
file.end('world!');
// Writing more now is not allowed!
```end('Hello World');
});
const server: Server<typeof IncomingMessage, typeof ServerResponse>
server.Server.listen(port?: number, hostname?: string, listeningListener?: () => void): Server<typeof IncomingMessage, typeof ServerResponse> (+8 overloads)
Start a server listening for connections. A `net.Server` can be a TCP or
an `IPC` server depending on what it listens to.
Possible signatures:
* `server.listen(handle[, backlog][, callback])`
* `server.listen(options[, callback])`
* `server.listen(path[, backlog][, callback])` for `IPC` servers
* `server.listen([port[, host[, backlog]]][, callback])` for TCP servers
This function is asynchronous. When the server starts listening, the `'listening'` event will be emitted. The last parameter `callback`will be added as a listener for the `'listening'`
event.
All `listen()` methods can take a `backlog` parameter to specify the maximum
length of the queue of pending connections. The actual length will be determined
by the OS through sysctl settings such as `tcp_max_syn_backlog` and `somaxconn` on Linux. The default value of this parameter is 511 (not 512).
All
{@link
Socket
}
are set to `SO_REUSEADDR` (see [`socket(7)`](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/socket.7.html) for
details).
The `server.listen()` method can be called again if and only if there was an
error during the first `server.listen()` call or `server.close()` has been
called. Otherwise, an `ERR_SERVER_ALREADY_LISTEN` error will be thrown.
One of the most common errors raised when listening is `EADDRINUSE`.
This happens when another server is already listening on the requested`port`/`path`/`handle`. One way to handle this would be to retry
after a certain amount of time:
```js
server.on('error', (e) => {
if (e.code === 'EADDRINUSE') {
console.error('Address in use, retrying...');
setTimeout(() => {
server.close();
server.listen(PORT, HOST);
}, 1000);
}
});
```listen(const port: 3000
port, const hostname: "127.0.0.1"
hostname, () => {
var console: Console
The `console` module provides a simple debugging console that is similar to the
JavaScript console mechanism provided by web browsers.
The module exports two specific components:
* A `Console` class with methods such as `console.log()`, `console.error()` and `console.warn()` that can be used to write to any Node.js stream.
* A global `console` instance configured to write to [`process.stdout`](https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v22.x/api/process.html#processstdout) and
[`process.stderr`](https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v22.x/api/process.html#processstderr). The global `console` can be used without importing the `node:console` module.
_**Warning**_: The global console object's methods are neither consistently
synchronous like the browser APIs they resemble, nor are they consistently
asynchronous like all other Node.js streams. See the [`note on process I/O`](https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v22.x/api/process.html#a-note-on-process-io) for
more information.
Example using the global `console`:
```js
console.log('hello world');
// Prints: hello world, to stdout
console.log('hello %s', 'world');
// Prints: hello world, to stdout
console.error(new Error('Whoops, something bad happened'));
// Prints error message and stack trace to stderr:
// Error: Whoops, something bad happened
// at [eval]:5:15
// at Script.runInThisContext (node:vm:132:18)
// at Object.runInThisContext (node:vm:309:38)
// at node:internal/process/execution:77:19
// at [eval]-wrapper:6:22
// at evalScript (node:internal/process/execution:76:60)
// at node:internal/main/eval_string:23:3
const name = 'Will Robinson';
console.warn(`Danger ${name}! Danger!`);
// Prints: Danger Will Robinson! Danger!, to stderr
```
Example using the `Console` class:
```js
const out = getStreamSomehow();
const err = getStreamSomehow();
const myConsole = new console.Console(out, err);
myConsole.log('hello world');
// Prints: hello world, to out
myConsole.log('hello %s', 'world');
// Prints: hello world, to out
myConsole.error(new Error('Whoops, something bad happened'));
// Prints: [Error: Whoops, something bad happened], to err
const name = 'Will Robinson';
myConsole.warn(`Danger ${name}! Danger!`);
// Prints: Danger Will Robinson! Danger!, to err
```console.Console.log(message?: any, ...optionalParams: any[]): void (+1 overload)
Prints to `stdout` with newline. Multiple arguments can be passed, with the
first used as the primary message and all additional used as substitution
values similar to [`printf(3)`](http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/printf.3.html)
(the arguments are all passed to [`util.format()`](https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v22.x/api/util.html#utilformatformat-args)).
```js
const count = 5;
console.log('count: %d', count);
// Prints: count: 5, to stdout
console.log('count:', count);
// Prints: count: 5, to stdout
```
See [`util.format()`](https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v22.x/api/util.html#utilformatformat-args) for more information.log(`Server running at http://${const hostname: "127.0.0.1"
hostname}:${const port: 3000
port}/`);
});
This is in contrast to today's more common concurrency model, in which OS threads are employed. Thread-based networking is relatively inefficient and very difficult to use. Furthermore, users of Node.js are free from worries of dead-locking the process, since there are no locks. Almost no function in Node.js directly performs I/O, so the process never blocks except when the I/O is performed using synchronous methods of Node.js standard library. Because nothing blocks, scalable systems are very reasonable to develop in Node.js.
If some of this language is unfamiliar, there is a full article on Blocking vs. Non-Blocking.
Node.js is similar in design to, and influenced by, systems like Ruby's
Event Machine and Python's Twisted. Node.js takes the event model a bit
further. It presents an event loop as a runtime construct instead of as a library. In other systems,
there is always a blocking call to start the event-loop.
Typically, behavior is defined through callbacks at the beginning of a script, and
at the end a server is started through a blocking call like EventMachine::run()
.
In Node.js, there is no such start-the-event-loop call. Node.js simply enters the event loop after executing the input script. Node.js
exits the event loop when there are no more callbacks to perform. This behavior
is like browser JavaScript — the event loop is hidden from the user.
HTTP is a first-class citizen in Node.js, designed with streaming and low latency in mind. This makes Node.js well suited for the foundation of a web library or framework.
Node.js being designed without threads doesn't mean you can't take
advantage of multiple cores in your environment. Child processes can be spawned
by using our child_process.fork()
API, and are designed to be easy to
communicate with. Built upon that same interface is the cluster
module,
which allows you to share sockets between processes to enable load balancing
over your cores.
Official Node.js Resources
To ensure authenticity and security when working with Node.js, always use official sources. Avoid trusting emails, binaries, or downloads from unofficial sources.
Official Node.js Domains
For downloading Node.js binaries and accessing official documentation, use only these domains:
- nodejs.org
- nodejs.dev (Redirects to https://nodejs.org)
- iojs.org (Redirects to https://nodejs.org)
Official npm Packages
The Node.js team maintains the following official npm package scopes:
Additionally, the Node.js team maintains packages published by the nodejs-foundation
npm account,
though other Node.js-related packages (like undici
) may also be maintained by contributors closely
tied to the project.
Using packages from the Node.js team guarantees that you are working with officially supported Node.js components.
Official GitHub Organizations
Node.js and related projects are maintained under these official GitHub organizations:
Official Communication Channels
Node.js and the OpenJS Foundation communicate through various official and community-supported channels. You can find details on how to get involved on the Get Involved page.
Reporting Website Issues & Downtime
If you encounter issues with the Node.js website, report them at the Node.js website repository. For real-time updates on outages, visit the Node.js Status Page.