Interesting Project Ideas that can be Developed Using Express.JS Fundamentals

Express.JS is an open-source framework that is widely used for building real-world server-side and networking applications. It not only allows you to create a dynamic website as it is built on chrome’s JavaScript Runtime, but is also used to make large scale apps through rapid development in backend programming. It uses a driven model to allow the creation of highly scalable and lightweight web apps. Creating an Express app for your project can be extremely advantageous, especially if you are looking for a dynamic yet simple solution. Companies are preferring to hire Express JS developers for a myriad of application requirements as it is a very malleable solution.

Express.JS application development can be employed efficiently in a variety of industries. It is a JavaScript runtime environment built upon event-driven programming that enables non-blocking I/O (Input/Output) capable of serving multiple concurrent events in a single thread. 

The most important contribution of non-blocking I/O is that it makes the framework extremely lightweight, very fast, highly scalable, and efficient enough to successfully handle data-heavy and I/O-heavy workloads characteristic of several types of web applications. 

Express.JS has been the major contributing factor for a large number of applications from various genres. Some of the most prominent sectors that have benefitted from creating an Express app include:

1. Internet of Things

IoT (Internet of Things) is a network of devices such as sensors, beacons, actuators, and any other items embedded with electronics that enables them to send and exchange data. Usually, IoT systems pass data from devices to servers and from servers to applications that process it and display it to users. IoT could consist of thousands of devices that are connected together, which could make it challenging to manage requests and data streams between various devices. 

The popularity of IoT has been rising drastically over the years since 2012, and so has the popularity of Express.JS as the preferred solution for organizations seeking to develop their IoT systems. 

Express.JS in the back-end ensures that a large volume of concurrent requests and data events can be easily processed by thousands or even millions of devices on the network without getting blocked. This is made possible by the event-driven architecture and asynchronous processing suitable for I/O-heavy operations on the IoT network enabled by Node.JS.

2. Real-Time Chats

Real-time chat is an online communication tool that allows live transmission of text, video, or audio messages to travel from the sender to the receiver. Real-time chats can take the form of one-to-one or one-to-many group chats built on Instant Messaging (IM) or Internet Relay Chat (IRC) technologies. 

Real-time chats are gaining widespread popularity in social networks, commercial sites, and even on-demand apps. Express.JS provides every basic functionality that is required for building real-time chats of varying complexities. Node has a powerful Event API that facilitates the creation of certain kinds of objects (“emitters”) that periodically emit named events “listened” by event handlers. Thanks to this functionality, Express.JS makes it easy to implement server-side events and push notifications widely used in instant messaging and other real-time applications. At the same time, Node’s event-based architecture also works well with the WebSockets protocol that facilitates a fast two-way exchange of messages between the client and the server via one open connection.

3. Complex Single Page Applications

Single-Page Applications (SPAs) are a popular approach to web development in which an entire application fits on a single page with the goal of providing a user experience similar to a desktop app.

Single-Page Applications are widely used to create social networking apps, online design tools, and much more. Creating an Express.JS app is a great fit in this situation as it is able to handle asynchronous calls and heavy I/O workloads characteristic of these applications. The hired Express.JS developer can work well with data-driven SPAs where the server acts as a backend that provides data to the client. Also, since Single Page Applications are written in the same language as most popular JavaScript frameworks, it can provide faster development and easier maintenance of these applications. 

4. Real-Time Collaborations

Applications that are meant for real-time collaboration offer a range of solutions. From co-browsing to project management to video and audio conferencing and much more – they offer a lot. As discussed above in the case of real-time chats, Express.JS has an asynchronous and event-based architecture that is of great help. 

It allows many events and I/O requests to occur concurrently. Node’s WebSockets and Event API ensure that heavy I/O operations performed by more than one user at a time do not make the server hang and that all server-side events and data are sent back to the client on time. 

5. Streaming Apps

Streaming apps have become extremely popular, especially since 2020. Unlike the case of remote server apps, the program is executed on the end user’s local machine in application streaming. Application streaming allows for downloading parts of the application on demand without overloading the server and the local computer. Initially, only certain parts of the application needed for bootstrap are downloaded, whereas the remainder can be downloaded in the background if needed. 

When the application is completely downloaded, it can function without any network connection at all. Express.JS is excellent for developing such streaming applications owing to its native Stream API. Additionally, it has an interface of readable as well as writeable streams that can be processed and monitored very efficiently.

To sum it all up, Express.JS is great for building applications that include heavy client-side rendering, multiple concurrent requests, and frequent shuffling of data from a client to a server. Whether a user wants to build a heavy I/O application or a data-driven application, hiring an Express.JS developer is the first choice for platform. Express.JS is gaining widespread popularity and becoming the platform of choice for many latest and varied types of applications.