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Is it possible in this context to replace Node.js with Event Machine without any kind of loss of expressiveness, abstraction, performances? Or, in other words,

by antirez 16y ago

Is it possible in this context to replace Node.js with Event Machine without any kind of loss of expressiveness, abstraction, performances? Or, in other words, what are the advantages of node compared to an event programming library for another language like Ruby or Python? Since Ruby supports fibers, it should actually be simpler to take the state across events firing, at least in theory, but since I'm everything but a node.js expert I would love to hear your opinion on the matter.

SamReidHughes 16y ago
node.js uses Javascript. That means, for example, I don't have to rewrite my code that identifies valid chess moves in two different languages.
- antirez 16y ago
  this is a good point. But I see node.js is often used in contexts where there is no real sharing of code between the web part and the server part.
laktek 16y ago
As I mentioned in the post real bottleneck occurs when it's used with the other supporting libraries (which would be the practical case). Most libraries in Ruby (or Python) are implemented as blocking processes. This defeats the purpose of using an evented programming library. In contrast, most of the Node.js' libraries are written in a non-blocking manner. This may be because of the initial path the eco-system took. Also JavaScript, being naturally event-driven language encourages writing non-blocking code.
- antirez 16y ago
  Hello laktek, I really agree about the fact that node.js being from the ground up an evented environment got most libraries written in the same paradigm. On the other side I fail seeing how Javascript is a more event driven language compared to Ruby. In the context it's often used (the web browser) it supports callbacks, but not with some special semantic. Just callbacks, anonymous functions. For this point of view I think that languages with coroutines are probably more powerful as event-driven programming languages, because it's possible to save the state across calls in a much more high level way, leading to code resembling a lot erlang code for instance. Thanks!

by antirez 16y ago

SamReidHughes 16y ago

node.js uses Javascript. That means, for example, I don't have to rewrite my code that identifies valid chess moves in two different languages.

antirez 16y ago
this is a good point. But I see node.js is often used in contexts where there is no real sharing of code between the web part and the server part.

laktek 16y ago

As I mentioned in the post real bottleneck occurs when it's used with the other supporting libraries (which would be the practical case). Most libraries in Ruby (or Python) are implemented as blocking processes. This defeats the purpose of using an evented programming library. In contrast, most of the Node.js' libraries are written in a non-blocking manner. This may be because of the initial path the eco-system took. Also JavaScript, being naturally event-driven language encourages writing non-blocking code.

antirez 16y ago
Hello laktek, I really agree about the fact that node.js being from the ground up an evented environment got most libraries written in the same paradigm. On the other side I fail seeing how Javascript is a more event driven language compared to Ruby. In the context it's often used (the web browser) it supports callbacks, but not with some special semantic. Just callbacks, anonymous functions. For this point of view I think that languages with coroutines are probably more powerful as event-driven programming languages, because it's possible to save the state across calls in a much more high level way, leading to code resembling a lot erlang code for instance. Thanks!