Given the long list of Node.js benefits, it's easy to believe that some of the biggest companies using the technology include NASA, Uber, and Twitter. Who uses Node.js, why did they decide to switch to Node.js and how did it turn out for them?
#1 Netflix is a leading streaming content and video provider with over 93 million users worldwide. In 2015, the company faced challenges with its back-end technology, Java, as it struggled to keep up with the rapidly growing user base. This resulted in slow load times and limited options for custom UI design, negatively impacting the customer experience. To address these issues, Netflix switched to Node.js technology. This change brought significant benefits, including a 70% decrease in startup time, improved integration of microservices, and faster transition from backend to frontend development. The Netflix interface now loads in just a second, compared to the previous ten seconds, thanks to Node.js.
#2 NASA is one of the world's most renowned organizations, known for its pioneering research and exploration. However, a near-fatal incident caused by inefficient data storage and long access times led NASA to re-evaluate its technology choices. The decision was made to move to Node.js, a JavaScript-based technology, in order to improve data storage and access. This change brought significant benefits for NASA, including a 300% reduction in access times, successful migration of old databases to the cloud, and a streamlined research process thanks to the reduced number of steps required for database management. With Node.js, information is now available to users in seconds, rather than hours.
#3 Trello is a widely used project management tool that helps individuals and teams organize and prioritize their work. In order to deliver real-time updates and keep up with fast-paced project management, Trello chose to use Node.js on the server side. This choice was made because Node.js is able to handle multiple real-time server connections and keep updates flowing smoothly and on time. Node.js brought several benefits to Trello. It allowed for the creation of an extremely lightweight single page application, which is critical for a project management tool that needs to update information in real-time. Additionally, Node.js allows Trello to handle updates with zero delays, ensuring that information is always up-to-date. Additionally, the Node.js architecture has helped to reduce development and prototyping costs.
#4 PayPal is a world leader in online payments and transfers with over 200 million active accounts. In 2013, the company faced challenges with its use of Java, which did not integrate well with front-end development. This resulted in long development times and poor performance. To address these issues, PayPal switched to Node.js. The use of Node.js brought several benefits for PayPal. A smaller development team was able to build a Node.js application in a shorter amount of time, while response time was reduced resulting in a 35% reduction in download time. Furthermore, the number of user requests per second doubled after the introduction of Node.js technology. This improved performance and faster development times helped PayPal to improve its user experience and continue to grow as a leading online payments platform.
#5 LinkedIn is the largest social platform for business and employment, with a user base of 467 million people from more than 200 countries. In order to keep up with the platform's growing popularity, LinkedIn decided to switch from Ruby on Rails to Node.js. This decision was made due to synchronization issues with the Ruby application, which led to an increase in load time, especially during periods of high traffic. The switch to Node.js brought several benefits for LinkedIn. The entire architecture of the platform was created in JavaScript, simplifying the handling of client-server interactions. Additionally, the number of servers needed was reduced from thirty to three, doubling the traffic throughput. As a result, the new Node.js application runs ten times faster than the old version, providing a better experience for LinkedIn's users.
#6 Uber is a rapidly growing company, with its user base expanding every six months and operating in 68 countries. As the number of connections and requests grew, Uber needed to create a real-time architecture to handle them effectively. Additionally, the company needed to perform complex analysis of data stored on the platform, which required uninterrupted service performance. To meet these demands, Uber has become one of the companies that use Node.js in production. Node.js brought several benefits for Uber. It allowed the company to process huge amounts of data and numerous user requests much faster, enabling the platform to serve 14 million rides daily. The technology also increased system connectivity and reduced management costs by creating more than 600 stateless endpoints. The ability to handle a large number of requests and perform complex data analysis in real-time, has helped Uber to continue growing as a leading ride-sharing platform.
#7 Twitter, with over 80% of its account holders accessing the platform via smartphones, decided to create Twitter Lite, a minimalist application that can work even with a poor internet connection. Additionally, the website version of Twitter was not optimized for poor connection conditions. To address these issues, Twitter has become one of the companies that use Node.js. Node.js brought several benefits for Twitter. Twitter Lite takes up little space on mobile devices, from 1% to 3% of the phone's memory, which is convenient for users with limited storage. The app can also work with 3G and 2G connections, making it accessible for users in areas with poor internet connectivity. Furthermore, support costs for Twitter Lite are significantly lower than for Twitter Desktop, making it more cost-efficient for the company. These improvements have helped Twitter to better serve its mobile users and continue to grow as a leading social media platform.
#8 eBay is another business that has adopted Node.js. As the largest marketplace providing C2C and B2C online sales services, with 183 million users, eBay needed a technology that could keep up with the high traffic and changes in the front-end. In the past, the eBay application ran on Java, resulting in long loading times and poor performance. To address these issues, eBay decided to use Node.js. With Node.js, eBay was able to create microservices that run in real-time, without overloading the infrastructure. Node.js also provided scalability, speed, and the ability to handle a high volume of traffic, which is critical for a platform like eBay. These improvements have helped eBay to better serve its users and continue to grow as a leading online marketplace.
#9 Medium is a well-known online publishing platform with 85 million users, using Node.js as its technology choice. As the platform grew, hitting 7.5 million posts in 2016, the Medium team realized the need to manage big data without overburdening their servers. Additionally, the company had to meet the ever-increasing requirements of text editors for publishing posts. To address these challenges, Medium adopted Node.js. The technology brought several benefits to the platform. Thanks to Node.js, even pages with large images and bulky content load in 2.7 seconds, improving the user experience. Additionally, Node.js has accelerated deployment times, allowing Medium to quickly and efficiently publish new content and keep up with the demands of its users. With Node.js, Medium has been able to handle big data and improve the user experience, making it a leading platform for online publishing.