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Reason to use Node.js on the server without liking Javascript: I like the framework. Framework != language (or at least it should be).

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I'm genuinely curious which feature(s) of node you like better than ASP.NET. I have used both and find them quite similar as far as "raw" capability. ASP.NET however has all of the things you were asking for: great Intellisense, great tooling (for instance integration with Entity Framework), great libraries available (such as SignalR), code in C# or any .NET language (including F#), rich async support...

I like node too, but to me, the reason to choose it is either if you want to remain platform-neutral, or if you really like Javascript.

I would imagine he's referring to the non-blocking IO and evented model. ASP.Net and friends use threads for everything, which allows for heavier processing, but also is more restrictive in terms of concurrency.

MVC 4 also allows non-blocking IO. Mark your controller as "async" and use async calls within your controller method.

The evented IO model is nice, but nothing earth shattering. Same can again be accomplished with async IO calls, which are trivially easy in .NET 4.5.

Sidenote: Node.js isn't a framework, it's a platform.

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