Impressed with what Node is doing the last years, deno and bun has really made Node focus and improve. It was stuck for a while
Last actually note-worthy improvement I heard of was properly supporting import/export (although do you still need to use the .mjs hack?), but I've been out of the loop here for sometime so would be nice to know what they've added since.
https://kashw1n.com/blog/nodejs-2025/
It doesn’t cover everything, but as an old-school Node user I found several interesting features I didn’t know about.
Syntax detection is enabled by default in v22.7.0, v20.19.0:
https://nodejs.org/api/packages.html#syntax-detection
Sounds like the obvious correct solution, making .cjs and .mjs obsolete - unless of course someone uses import() statements exclusively, in which case I need to ask: why?
Additionally, io.js actually forked off due to internal drama which started with Ben Noordhuis having changed some pronouns here and there and people wanting to cancel him for that, to which he picked up his toys and left the sandbox.
It so happened that aside from being competent himself, he had competent people on his side, which eventually forced those governing Node.js to concede.
Bun is just a cash grab in comparison.
And the biggest issue with Node IMO is that the standard lib still forces you to rely on endless npm dependencies.
Node is still very much stuck.
How? We have async/await file access, a async/await test runner, and even async/await sleep built in. What are you missing?
Everything else needed to make a backend app.
At the very least, Node should provide fundamental pieces like database drivers. Currently the best PG driver[1] depends on a single guy.
Bun already provides its own PG driver [2] and Jarred has written they will keep investing into more built-in APIs.
Definitely a problem, but funding good Postgres/MongoDB/SQLite should be handled by AWS, Microsoft, Google, and other orgs that sell database services.
> Definitely a problem, but funding good Postgres/MongoDB/SQLite should be handled by AWS, Microsoft, Google, and other orgs that sell database services.
A good chunk of PG development is done by employees of those companies (*). Of course they could (and probably should) always do more. But even if they invest more, it's not obvious that the marginal effort is best invested in some language's drivers...
Disclaimer: I'm paid by one of those big companies.
I am not saying this problem exists and 19% is a made up number, the grandparent post seems to think there is some kind of problem.
Just as an example, Express depends on 25 modules with a single maintainer.
https://npmgraph.js.org/?q=express
Obviously a router is a fraction of what's needed for any non trivial backend project.
People were cuddling and pasting code from random people on the Internet they didn't understand for many years before package managers where there were zero maintainers. Many people that don't properly understand supply chain issues still are.
On the projects I am involved, they could even not exist, only node LTS releases matter, and the most recent projects are still node 20.
You couldn’t phrase your original question as a statement “Them have though.” That’s often a quick test for valid English grammar. With the correct pronoun, it makes more sense: “They have though.”
As another example, take this sentence: “Have you seen them though?”
“You” is the subject of that sentence, and “them” is the object.
It's short for "Have them [Node bozos improved it], though?"
Or, equally likely it, refers to deno and bun ("deno and bun has really made Node focus and improve", "Have them (deno and bun) really made Node focus and improve, though?")
(Also the expansion was meant as a joke in case it went woooosh - I don't mind-read to know what the OP meant)
Without the expansion I don't know of any native English speaker who would say it.
There is a reason why so many Java, Python, .NET/C#, C, C++,.. projects are stuck several versions behind.