EventMachine was definitely on the table, but a big reason we chose node was that it's asynchronous all the way through. Node modules tend to be asynchronous by

EventMachine was definitely on the table, but a big reason we chose node was that it's asynchronous all the way through. Node modules tend to be asynchronous by default. In other evented frameworks, it's hard to make sure that all of your code is asynchronous (especially when you use existing libraries). If your server runs into a slow, synchronous function at a critical time, it might come to a screeching halt and then fall over.