With the increased popularity of JavaScript, it is no wonder that Node.js is getting a lot of buzz in the web development industry.  So what is it?  It is a Javascript powered platform that allows for both client-side and server-side initiated communication.  This is revolutionary as JavaScript has never been able to run on the server side of an application but only within the client-side as an event-triggered request and response language.  With the introduction to Node.js, we are now able to run JavaScript on the server and take advantage of server initiated communication such as push technology. 

So why is this such a big deal? The main reason is due to Node’s ability to run requests in one single thread.  Traditionally, web applications would process commands individually which would take up a lot of space on the server - often causing it to crash.  With Node.js, requests and responses now have the ability to run in the same thread, using non-blocking connection calls, allowing the server to support massive amounts of requests.  This is very powerful because the requests, going to and from the server, will now take up less room, therefore maximizing the space on the server and allowing it to run faster.  Node’s ability to process requests at such high speeds prove as a major benefit for real time applications where speed is essential for basic operation.