Node.js

Node.js is practically an evented I/O library for Google's V8 JavaScript engine.

Experts recommend it for creating and deploying for traffic and data intensive real-time apps that need to run the same across various platforms and devices.

Node.js is currently considered the top platform for running server-side JavaScript code, being used in production in big companies like Google, eBay, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Cloud9 and many more.

The platform is very well documented and benefits from a very large module repository, managed through the npm (Node.js Package Manager) utility.

Version 6.x is recommended for stable production environments, while version 7.x is stable, yet includes experimental features.

What is new in this release:

• events: make sure console functions exist
• fs: add autoClose option to fs.createWriteStream
• http: improves expect header handling
• node: allow preload modules with -i
• v8,src: expose statistics about heap spaces (v8.getHeapSpaceStatistics())

What is new in version 6.7.0 / 4.6.0:

• events: make sure console functions exist
• fs: add autoClose option to fs.createWriteStream
• http: improves expect header handling
• node: allow preload modules with -i
• v8,src: expose statistics about heap spaces (v8.getHeapSpaceStatistics())

What is new in version 6.5.0 / 4.5.0:

• events: make sure console functions exist
• fs: add autoClose option to fs.createWriteStream
• http: improves expect header handling
• node: allow preload modules with -i
• v8,src: expose statistics about heap spaces (v8.getHeapSpaceStatistics())

What is new in version 6.3.0 / 4.4.7:

• events: make sure console functions exist
• fs: add autoClose option to fs.createWriteStream
• http: improves expect header handling
• node: allow preload modules with -i
• v8,src: expose statistics about heap spaces (v8.getHeapSpaceStatistics())

What is new in version 6.2.0 / 4.4.5:

What is new in version 6.0.0 / 4.4.3:

• events: make sure console functions exist
• fs: add autoClose option to fs.createWriteStream
• http: improves expect header handling
• node: allow preload modules with -i
• v8,src: expose statistics about heap spaces (v8.getHeapSpaceStatistics())

What is new in version 4.4.3 / 5.10.1:

• events: make sure console functions exist
• fs: add autoClose option to fs.createWriteStream
• http: improves expect header handling
• node: allow preload modules with -i
• v8,src: expose statistics about heap spaces (v8.getHeapSpaceStatistics())

What is new in version 4.4.0 / 5.8.0:

• events: make sure console functions exist
• fs: add autoClose option to fs.createWriteStream
• http: improves expect header handling
• node: allow preload modules with -i
• v8,src: expose statistics about heap spaces (v8.getHeapSpaceStatistics())

What is new in version 4.2.6 / 5.5.0:

• events: make sure console functions exist
• fs: add autoClose option to fs.createWriteStream
• http: improves expect header handling
• node: allow preload modules with -i
• v8,src: expose statistics about heap spaces (v8.getHeapSpaceStatistics())

What is new in version 4.2.2 / 5.2.0:

• fs.readFile*(), fs.writeFile*(), and fs.appendFile*() now also accept a file descriptor as their first argument
• Fixed a bug where pipelined http requests would stall
• npm: Upgraded to version 3.3.6 from 2.14.7
• Attempt to reuse the timer handle for setTimeout().unref().
• Added ALPN Support
• TLS options can now be passed in an object to createSecurePair()
• zlib: Decompression now throws on truncated input

What is new in version 4.1.1:

• child_process: ChildProcess.prototype.send() and process.send() operate asynchronously across all platforms so an optional callback parameter has been introduced that will be invoked once the message has been sent, i.e. .send(message[, sendHandle][, callback]).
• node: Rename "io.js" code to "Node.js".
• node-gyp: This release bundles an updated version of node-gyp that works with all versions of Node.js and io.js including nightly and release candidate builds. From io.js v3 and Node.js v4 onward, it will only download a headers tarball when building addons rather than the entire source.
• npm: Upgrade to version 2.14.2 from 2.13.3, includes a security update, see https://github.com/npm/npm/releases/tag/v2.14.2 for more details.
• timers: Improved timer performance from porting the 0.12 implementation, plus minor fixes.
• util: The util.is*() functions have been deprecated, beginning with deprecation warnings in the documentation for this release, users are encouraged to seek more robust alternatives in the npm registry.
• v8: Upgrade to version 4.5.103.30 from 4.4.63.30.

What is new in version 0.12.7:

• openssl: upgrade to 1.0.1p
• npm: upgrade to 2.11.3
• V8: cherry-pick JitCodeEvent patch from upstream
• win,msi: create npm folder in AppData directory

What is new in version 0.12.4:

• npm: upgrade to 2.10.1
• V8: revert v8 Array.prototype.values() removal
• win: bring back xp/2k3 support

What is new in version 0.12.2:

• openssl: upgrade to 1.0.1m (Addressing multiple CVES)

What is new in version 0.12.0:

• Streams 3:
• The Streams implementation now works the way you thought it already should, without introducing any changes to the API. Basically this means no more getting stuck in "old mode", there are only streams that are flowing or not.
• Streams now support the use of cork and uncork mechanisms to prevent flushing writes out to the system if an application is going to be performing many writes in a row. There is an implicit uncork performed when you end a writable stream.
• HTTP:
• maxSockets are no longer limited to 5. The default is now set to Infinity with the developer and the operating system given control over how many simultaneous connections an application can keep open to a given host.
• Proper KeepAlive support means that sockets will stay open until they timeout at the configured time, are closed by the remote side, or the process exits. Developer's no longer have to make sure requests have been pipelined to keep the socket open, or use an alternative module to get that support.
• Developers can also now explicitly flushHeaders to ensure time to first byte is low and proxied connections are held open.
• Cluster:
• Now has two modes of operation, the new default is a round robin distribution mechanism where the master accepts new connections and distributes them to your workers. If you want you can still opt back into the old method where your workers are responsible for acception connections.
• TLS:
• We have the new TLSWrap mechanism under the hood, this eliminates quite a few of the hops back and forth between JavaScript and our C++ implementations.
• Added APIs for asynchronous SNI callbacks, OCSP stapling, and storage events.
• Buffer:
• We use a more accurate mechanism for allocating memory for buffers now, which means you'll see less overhead and impact from holding onto to small slices of Buffers. This reduces the amount of memory pressure on the system, which means GC runs are quicker, which means Node.js is on CPU less, and thus lower latency for your applications.
• child_process:
• spawnSync/execSync have been added to facilitate synchronous child processes, warning your node process won't make forward progress while waiting for the child to exit, caveat emptor!
• Crypto:
• Added APIs for loading custom engines for use with compiled in OpenSSL.
• More APIs support supplying the pass phrases.
• Added APIs for RSA public/private key encryption/decryption.
• VM:
• The module is now based on the Contextify module, which shares values from the sandbox to avoid missing changes inside the execution from appearing in the parent context.
• Initial support for ECMAScript Internationalization API 1.0 (ECMA-402)
• By default, Node.js v0.12.0 binaries are shipped with ECMA-402 support, but only for the English language. In other words, the ECMA-402 API is working as you would expect, but only data for the English language is included.

What is new in version 0.10.36:

• openssl: update to 1.0.1l
• v8: Fix debugger and strict mode regression
• v8: don't busy loop in cpu profiler thread

What is new in version 0.10.34:

• uv: update to v0.10.30
• zlib: upgrade to v1.2.8
• child_process: check execFile args is an array
• child_process: check fork args is an array
• crypto: update root certificates
• domains: fix issues with abort on uncaught
• timers: Avoid linear scan in _unrefActive
• timers: fix unref() memory leak
• v8: add api for aborting on uncaught exception
• debugger: fix when using "use strict"

What is new in version 0.10.33:

• openssl: Update to 1.0.1j
• uv: Update to v0.10.29
• child_process: properly support optional args
• crypto: Disable autonegotiation for SSLv2/3 by default

What is new in version 0.10.32:

• npm: Update to 1.4.28
• v8: fix a crash introduced by previous release
• configure: add --openssl-no-asm flag
• crypto: use domains for any callback-taking method
• http: do not send 0rnrn in TE HEAD responses
• querystring: fix unescape override
• url: Add support for RFC 3490 separators

What is new in version 0.10.31:

• v8: backport CVE-2013-6668.
• openssl: Update to v1.0.1i.
• npm: Update to v1.4.23.
• cluster: disconnect should not be synchronous.
• fs: fix fs.readFileSync fd leak when get RangeError.
• stream: fix Readable.wrap objectMode falsy values.
• timers: fix timers with non-integer delay hanging.

What is new in version 0.10.30:

• uv: Upgrade to v0.11.14
• v8: upgrade 3.21.18.3
• assert: indicate if exception message is generated
• buffer: add buf.toArrayBuffer() API
• cluster: fix premature 'disconnect' event
• crypto: add SPKAC support
• debugger: count space for line numbers correctly
• debugger: make busy loops SIGUSR1-interruptible
• debugger: repeat last command
• debugger: show current line
• dgram: send() can accept strings
• dns: rename domain to hostname
• dns: set hostname property on error object
• dtrace, mdb_v8: support more string, frame types
• http: add statusMessage
• http: expose supported methods

What is new in version 0.10.29:

• child_process: do not set args before throwing
• child_process: spawn() does not throw TypeError
• constants: export O_NONBLOCK
• crypto: improve memory usage
• fs: close file if fstat() fails in readFile()
• lib: name EventEmitter prototype methods
• tls: fix performance issue

What is new in version 0.10.27:

• child_process: fix deadlock when sending handles
• child_process: fix sending handle twice
• crypto: do not lowercase cipher/hash names
• dtrace: workaround linker bug on FreeBSD
• http: do not emit EOF non-readable socket
• http: invoke createConnection when no agent
• stream: remove useless check
• timer: don't reschedule timer bucket in a domain
• url: treat the same as /
• util: format as Error if instanceof Error

What is new in version 0.10.25:

• uv: Upgrade to v0.10.23
• npm: Upgrade to v1.3.24
• v8: Fix enumeration for objects with lots of properties
• child_process: fix spawn() optional arguments
• cluster: report more errors to workers
• domains: exit() only affects active domains
• src: OnFatalError handler must abort()
• stream: writes may return false but forget to emit drain

What is new in version 0.10.24:

• uv: Upgrade to v0.10.21
• npm: upgrade to 1.3.21
• v8: backport fix for CVE-2013-{6639|6640}
• build: unix install node and dep library headers
• cluster, v8: fix --logfile=%p.log
• module: only cache package main

What is new in version 0.10.22:

• npm: Upgrade to 1.3.14
• uv: Upgrade to v0.10.19
• child_process: don't assert on stale file descriptor events
• darwin: Fix "Not Responding" in Mavericks activity monitor
• debugger: Fix bug in sb() with unnamed script
• repl: do not insert duplicates into completions
• src: Fix memory leak on closed handles

What is new in version 0.10.19:

• uv: Upgrade to v0.10.17
• npm: upgrade to 1.3.11
• readline: handle input starting with control chars
• configure: add mips-float-abi (soft, hard) option
• stream: objectMode transforms allow falsey values
• tls: prevent duplicate values returned from read

What is new in version 0.10.17:

• uv: Upgrade v0.10.14
• http_parser: Do not accept PUN/GEM methods as PUT/GET
• tls: fix assertion when ssl is destroyed at read
• stream: Throw on 'error' if listeners removed
• dgram: fix assertion on bad send() arguments
• readline: pause stdin before turning off terminal raw mode

What is new in version 0.10.16:

• npm: Upgrade to 1.3.8
• crypto: fix assert() on malformed hex input
• crypto: fix memory leak in randomBytes() error path
• events: fix memory leak, don't leak event names
• http: Handle hex/base64 encodings properly
• http: improve chunked res.write(buf) performance
• stream: Fix double pipe error emit

What is new in version 0.11.2:

• Upgrade to 0.11.2
• Upgrade to 3.19.0
• Upgrade to 1.2.21
• build: Makefile should respect configure --prefix
• cluster: use round-robin load balancing
• debugger, cluster: each worker has new debug port
• debugger: `restart` with custom debug port
• debugger: breakpoints in scripts not loaded yet
• event: EventEmitter#setMaxListeners() returns this
• events: add EventEmitter.defaultMaxListeners

What is new in version 0.10.10:

• uv: Upgrade to 0.10.10
• npm: Upgrade to 1.2.25
• url: Properly parse certain oddly formed URLs
• stream: unshift('') is a noop

What is new in version 0.10.9:

• npm: Upgrade to 1.2.24
• uv: Upgrade to v0.10.9
• repl: fix JSON.parse error check
• tls: proper .destroySoon
• tls: invoke write cb only after opposite read end
• tls: ignore .shutdown() syscall error

What is new in version 0.10.7:

• npm: Upgrade to 1.2.21
• crypto: Don't ignore verify encoding argument
• buffer, crypto: fix default encoding regression
• timers: fix setInterval() assert

What is new in version 0.10.6:

• stream: make Readable.wrap support objectMode, empty streams
• child_process: fix handle delivery
• crypto: Fix performance regression
• src: DRY string encoding/decoding

What is new in version 0.10.5:

• build: added support for Visual Studio 2012.
• http: Don't try to destroy nonexistent sockets.
• crypto: LazyTransform on properties, not methods.
• assert: put info in err.message, not err.name.
• dgram: fix no address bind().
• handle_wrap: fix NULL pointer dereference.
• os: fix unlikely buffer overflow in os.type().
• stream: Fix unshift() race conditions.

What is new in version 0.10.4:

• http: Support write(data, 'hex').
• crypto: dh secret should be left-padded.
• process: expose NODE_MODULE_VERSION in process.versions.
• crypto: fix constructor call in crypto streams.
• net: account for encoding in .byteLength.
• net: fix buffer iteration in bytesWritten.
• crypto: zero is not an error if writing 0 bytes.

What is new in version 0.10.2:

• tls: remove harmful unnecessary bounds checking.
• crypto: make getCiphers() return non-SSL ciphers.
• crypto: check randomBytes() size argument.
• timers: do not calculate Timeout._when property.
• timers: fix off-by-one ms error.
• timers: handle signed int32 overflow in enroll().
• stream: Fix stall in Transform under very specific conditions.
• stream: Handle late 'readable' event listeners.
• stream: Fix early end in Writables on zero-length writes.
• domain: fix domain callback from MakeCallback.
• child_process: don't emit same handle twice.