Node.js is a software platform based on the V8 engine (which translates JavaScript into machine code), transforming JavaScript from a highly specialized language into a general-purpose language. Node.js adds the ability for JavaScript to interact with input/output devices via its API (written in C++), to connect other external libraries written in different languages, providing calls to them from JavaScript code. Node.js is used primarily on the server, acting as a web server, but there is an opportunity to develop in Node.js and desktop window applications (using NW.js, AppJS or Electron for Linux, Windows and Mac OS)
There are a lot of new features in Node 10. As it evolves, the platform is becoming more productive, more user-friendly, and more versatile.