What is Vanilla JS versus Node JS?

Bytes & Pieces
2 min readNov 22, 2022

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written by S Rifana, edited by Julia H

JS stands for JavaScript, which is a scripting language. It can be said that JavaScript is the updated version of the ECMA script. JavaScript is a high-level programming language that uses the concept of OOPS (object oriented programming), but it is based on prototype inheritance.

Vanilla JavaScript:

There is nothing separate about Vanilla JavaScript. “Vanilla JavaScript” refers to plain JavaScript (without frameworks) running against the web API’s as they are exposed by a browser (i.e. client side) runtime.

JavaScript is majorly used in frontend development, which is basically website creation. It is an open-source, flexible, fast, light-weighted framework.

It’s advantages are that VanillaJS allows for cross-compilation and supports interfaces, modules, and classes. It can be used for both frontend and backend development so that it may run on different devices.

Some of its disadvantages are that:

-It makes use of limited libraries.

-Client-side JavaScript doesn’t support writing or reading files. Files are only kept for security purposes.

-A single error may destroy the entire website.

NodeJS:

NodeJS is a cross-platform and open-source JavaScript runtime environment that allows the JavaScript to be run on the server-side. NodeJS allows JavaScript code to run outside the browser. NodeJS comes with a lot of modules and is mostly used in web development.

Some of its advantages are:

-The Node.js library’s APIs are all asynchronous or non-blocking. It simply means that a Node.js based server never waits to return data from an API. After calling an API, the server passes on to the next one, and a Node.js notification mechanism assists the server in receiving a response from the previous API call.

-JS is a quick programming execution library built on the V8 JavaScript Engine in Google Chrome.

However, everything has its own disadvantages.

-One of the big disadvantages of Node.js is its lack of consistency. The API changes regularly, which increases the developers’ problems because they’ll have to make changes to their current code base to maintain compatibility.

-It doesn’t support multi-threading programming, and it is not with the development of heavy computing applications.

However, JavaScript is a very popular programming language. It is very easy to find a resource on JavaScript and do some specific development.

NodeJS is an extension of JavaScript libraries, but it comes with some undefined utilities like non-blocking operating system activity.

In conclusion, there is no real answer as to choosing between VanillaJS versus NodeJS — it all depends on what your project is all about, and what you need to make it successful.

Sources Used

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiF89f8nMH7AhXcSGwGHZncBQIQFnoECAoQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstackoverflow.com%2Fquestions%2F41786986%2Fvanilla-node-vs-express&usg=AOvVaw1V3fr6OhRdmPbOE6Wf0mfa

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiF89f8nMH7AhXcSGwGHZncBQIQFnoECCcQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.javatpoint.com%2Fjavascript-vs-nodejs&usg=AOvVaw3JmgTW7hlaWHBDr8HxPNHg

https://www.educba.com/javascript-vs-node-js/

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-node-js-and-javascript/

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Bytes & Pieces
Bytes & Pieces

Written by Bytes & Pieces

B and P is a student-run organization dedicated to mentoring students ages 11 and up in the fields of coding, AI, and music. https://linktr.ee/bytesandpieces

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