Because its non-blocking architecture and WebSockets via Socket.IO are a natural fit for real-time features like chat, notifications, and collaboration. Real-time web grew alongside Node.js, which made it the default choice.
Why is Node.js good for real-time apps?
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Full-stack JavaScript, non-blocking I/O for high concurrency, the massive npm ecosystem, fast V8 performance, natural fit for real-time apps, and strong corporate backing. Together these made Node.js dominant for modern web backends.
Full-stack JavaScript. Before Node.js, frontend and backend used different languages. Node.js let one language work on both, which enabled full-stack JavaScript developers and reduced the barrier to backend development for frontend developers.
It handles many concurrent connections efficiently through the event loop. While one request waits for I/O, the loop processes other requests, which makes Node.js excellent for APIs, real-time apps, and high-traffic web services.
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