tldr; Node.js' super light-weight cooperative-multitasking[1] allows IO optimizations only humans understand. I agree with this whole-heartedly, but it does pu

tldr; Node.js' super light-weight cooperative-multitasking[1] allows IO optimizations only humans understand. I agree with this whole-heartedly, but it does put the limitation on the human, and not on the computer, which is actually the opposite direction we want to go. I don't think we're there yet, so in the meantime, node.js is fantastic for when you need/want to hyper-optimize your critical code path for response time. One thing I would add is that node.js makes job-queueing, background-task handling, side-effect inducing trivial since it makes networked IO / SOA trivial. In other words, having a separate process deal with anything not necessary for returning a response is almost effortless, allowing your responses to always take the minimum time necessary, freeing your client to continue. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_multitasking#Cooperative_multitasking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_multitasking#Cooperati...