1.1 Introduction
Deno is a secure runtime for Javascript and Typescript. It came almost 9 years after the first release of Node.js, a very popular runtime for Javascript.
Deno 1.0 was released in May 2020. Deno is conceived and developed by Ryan Dahl, who was also the creator of Node.js. These two runtimes have both similarities and differences. While Node.js is well established and used by some of the major companies, Deno is in its infancy. Deno has a long way to go before it could become a major competitor to Node.js.
Both Deno and Node.js offers a server-side runtime to run Typescript (Deno only) and Javascript applications (both). The comparison between Deno and Node.js is inevitable. Deno can be considered as the successor of Node.js. Deno is built with modern technologies. Deno is like next-gen Node.js
Before jumping on to the internals of Deno, it'd be helpful to get some background on Deno. We'll go over questions like:
- What was the need that led to the conception of Deno?
- What was the problem with Node.js?
- How Deno addresses the shortcomings of Node.js?
Let's start and learn more about the history and motivation behind Deno. Right after finishing the introduction, we'll jump to the architecture of Deno in the next chapter.