Difference Between Node.js and Browser
There are many differences between Node.js and the browser, let’s discuss some of the important differences that every developer should know
1. Difference in Environment
The environment of both Node.js and Browser are very different due to their different purpose Some key differences are:
- The browser executes JavaScript within the Host Environment, on the client side. Browsers provide a Document Object Model(DOM) which represents the structure of web pages.
- Node.js provides a runtime environment that allows JavaScript to run on a server, outside the browser. Also, it does not have a DOM like web browsers.
2. User Interface
One of the main differences is the way of execution. Browsers in its Host environment execute JavaScript and render the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and also provide a graphical user interface(GUI) to interact with web pages, since users interact with the web pages so it is essential to use GUI. But Node.js uses a command line interface(CLI) because it has no interaction with the users and it is used for server-side development to build web servers and APIs.
3. Different in their Usage
Since both execute JavaScript, the usage of both is what makes them different. Where Browser is used for the Client-side and executes JavaScript inside the browser’s Host environment and here developers use JavaScript to make the web Content dynamic. On the other hand, Node.js which is a runtime environment for the execution of JavaScript is used for server-side development to create web servers and APIs so JavaScript is most used for logic-building and algorithmic parts here.
4. Architecture Difference
Node.js runtime architecture consists of a V8 engine, event-driven I/O, Libuv library, and C++ addons and JavaScript Modules which will provide an amazing runtime environment for JavaScript execution as shown in the image below.
Since browsers are used for browsing web content, its architecture is much more complex than the node.js architecture, it has a JavaScript engine inside a rendering engine that executes the JavaScript within the client-side environment as shown in the image below.
Also, web browser and Node.js has a lot of other differences that are as follows:
|
Node.js |
Browser |
|---|---|
|
It uses both ‘require()’ and ‘import’ while importing any library. |
It uses only ‘import’. |
|
Support both CommonJs and ES module system |
Only ES modules being implemented |
|
To run the application, you know which version of Node.js you are using |
You don’t know which browser version your visitor will use. |
|
the document, window objects are not present in Node.js |
Many objects and APIs such as documents, windows are present in Browser. |
Node.js vs Browser – Top Differences That Every Developer Should Know
Node.js and Web browsers are two different but interrelated technologies in web development. JavaScript is executed in both the environment, node.js, and browser but for different use cases. Since JavaScript is the common Programming language in both, it is a huge advantage for developers to code both front-end and backend in the same language. Despite the similarities, there is a huge difference between Node.js and the browser.
Hence in this article, we will see why to differentiate both and some of the top differences between Node.js and Browser, that every developer should know. But before that let’s first understand what is node.js and the browser.