Performance optimization of Node js
Tags: apcheage, node, postgres, webdev
Published: 2023-08-02 06:02:41

**What is Node**
Node.js is a cross-platform, open-source server environment that can run on Windows, Linux, Unix, macOS, and more. Node.js is also a back-end JavaScript runtime environment, runs on the V8 JavaScript Engine, and executes JavaScript code outside a web browser. It enables server-side scripting and the development of highly scalable and efficient network applications. Node.js was created by Ryan Dahl and was first released in 2009.

**Key Features Of Node:**

1. Asynchronous and Non-blocking I/O
2. V8 JavaScript Engine 
3. NPM (Node Package Manager)
4. Event-Driven Architecture
5. Cross-Platform Compatibility
6. Real-time Applications
7. Scalability

Let discuss One of the best way to optimize Node.js performance.
**Using Node’s built-in profiler:** Node has a high-quality profiler built into the Node debugger. We can enable it by passing the **--inspect flag** when running an application.

A sample application below can be use to test the Node.js profiler. It includes both a fast route that only sends a response and a slow route that loops, allocates, and sleeps.

Save the code as index.js in a new project directory:

```
const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.get('/', slowRoute);
app.get('/fast', fastRoute);

function slowRoute(req, res) {
  loop();
  allocate();
  setTimeout(() => res.send('Success'), 100);
}

function fastRoute(req, res) {
  res.send('Success');
}

function loop() {
  for (let i = 0; i <= 1e8; i++) {}
}

function allocate() {
  const items = [];

  for (let i = 0; i < 1e6; i++) {
	items.push({ count: i });
  }
}

app.listen(3030, 'localhost', () => console.log(`Listening on localhost:3030`));
```

There are many other way to optimize as well which are:

**1. [Monitor & Profile With APM](https://granulate.io/blog/application-performance-monitoring-apm-metrics-tools-tips/)**
**2. [Use Caching to Reduce Latency](https://cpugpunerds.com/does-cache-reduce-latency/)**
**3. Use Timeouts**
Timeouts are a useful tool in Node.js for measuring the performance of your code and identifying potential bottlenecks. A timeout is simply a mechanism that allows you to set a timer for a certain amount of time, after which a callback function is called.
 Here’s an example:
```
setTimeout(() => {
  console.log('Timeout complete.');
}, 1000);
```
**4. Ensuring Secure Client-Side Authentications:** Web applications require a secure storage mechanism for session data to sustain user authentication and monitor user sessions. Saving session data on the client-side can trigger severe security risks. So for scalability, it is important to ensure secure client-side authentication.
Enabling secure cookies, establishing session timeouts, and regularly rotating session IDs can ensure secure session data storage. Additionally, using HTTPS for the web application can furnish an extra layer of security for session data.

**5. Improve Clustering through Throughput:** To implement clustering in Node.js, the cluster module can be utilized. These module enables the creation of worker processes, each running on a separate CPU core. The master process, which oversees the worker processes, can communicate with them through inter-process communication (IPC).

By default, the master process listens to incoming connections and distributes them to the worker processes using a round-robin algorithm. However, other load-balancing algorithms such as IP hash or least connection can also be utilized.

**6. Use CDN(Content Delivery Network):** CDN is an effective way to improve the performance and speed of web applications. A CDN is a distributed network of servers that store cached versions of web content, such as images, videos, and other static assets. When a user requests a web page, the CDN delivers the content from the server closest to the user, reducing the latency and improving the page load time.

Some benefits include:

- Faster content delivery to users worldwide due to distributed servers
- Reduced load on origin server leading to improved website performance and availability
- Improved user experience due to reduced latency and improved page load times
- Improved scalability to handle large traffic spikes and accommodate growth
- Advanced security features such as DDoS protection and SSL encryption
- Reduced bandwidth costs through caching and content optimization.

**7. Use Asynchronous Programming:** Asynchronous programming techniques in Node.js can significantly enhance your application’s performance by enabling multiple tasks to run simultaneously without blocking the event loop. This is accomplished through the usage of callbacks, Promises, or async/await functions.

Some examples of asynchronous include:

- Reading and writing files asynchronously using the fs module
- Making HTTP requests using the request or [Axios modules](https://www.npmjs.com/package/axios)
- Interacting with databases using the MySQL or mongoose modules
- Processing vast amounts of data using streams

**8. Using Load Balancer:** A load balancer serves to prevent a single server being overburdened with traffic, leading to a sluggish response or even unavailability. 

[NGINX](https://www.nginx.com), [HAProxy](https://www.haproxy.org), and Amazon ELB are some of the sought-after load balancers for Node.js. 

**8. Database Queries Optimization:** In Node.js, indexing your queries is a great way to start. It allows the database engine to quickly locate the data required for a given query. It’s essential to limit the amount of data retrieved from the database and avoid costly operations such as full table scans to optimize your queries.

**9. Reducing Dependencies:** By reducing the number of dependencies in your Node.js application, you can enhance performance, reduce startup times, and minimize the possibility of security vulnerabilities.

**11. Organized Code Practices:** The last tip may be the simplest, but the most actionable, and relevant to every developer. To keep an eye on efficiency while developing your application, here are just a few good habits:

- **Employ efficient algorithms and data structures** 
- **Reduce I/O operations**
- **Leverage middleware**

**Ending Note:** Node optimization is a vast topic but this article only covered the tip of some of the common practices you can adopt to get higher-performance results.