Ask HN: Is Node.js hyped fluff?

Node's big advantage (some would say disadvantage) is that it uses JavaScript (or languages that compile to JavaScript). There's a good ecosystem around it. However, let's face it, the whole asynchronous thing is a pain - even if you use the async library or promises or whatever. Node enthusiasts would say that the asynchronous thing is necessary for great performance, but the reality of it is that there are plenty of languages that outperform Node without using asynchronous calls: Java, C++, Go, even raw PHP without a framework in some cases (see http://www.techempower.com/benchmarks/#section=data-r8&hw=i7...). Another reality is that most sites don't even need such high-performing languages. Instagram with its 200 million users uses Python, and Facebook used "normal" (uncompiled) PHP up until the point when they had 500 million users.

In many ways yes. There are very real downsides to the node.js programming model and it's not necessarily faster than other tools and frameworks. Even boring old Java Servlets outperform node equivalents in many areas.

Where node excels is if you want to write your server in JS and you don't mind the evented nature of it.

If you don't love JS and evented code, avoid it.

No. (If you want a more nuanced answer, ask a more nuanced question..)

Hyped, yes. Fluff, no.