Node.JS is good enough to use as is without any compile to JS or frameworks in between. It is very nice to write a server or network tool in JavaScript. If you

Node.JS is good enough to use as is without any compile to JS or frameworks in between. It is very nice to write a server or network tool in JavaScript. If you want to use it as front-end glue you can still stay lean, just use the built-in http module, or npm install SockJS or other websocket module to communicate with the web page, which you also can write without any frameworks or build tools.