If you’ve worked with JavaScript frameworks and libraries, chances are that you’ve heard of Node.js and Express.js. So for those who are unfamiliar to these terms – what exactly are they?

Node.js

Node.js is an open-source JavaScript runtime environment, that uses Google’s V8 JavaScript engine, where you can build server applications. Node.js is not a framework, although it has many modules that are written in JavaScript. It has event-driven architecture that is capable of asynchronous I/O, otherwise none as a form of input/output processing that allows other processing to continue before the transfer of data has finished.

Express.js

Express.js is a web application framework for Node.js, that’s used for building APIs. It is also known for being a backend component of the MEAN stack.

I’ve worked with Node.js and Express.js to create APIs, so I feel like I can never think about one of them without having the other one come to mind.