[tracker1]

I have to agree... the fact is, Node isn't the best at anything in terms of raw performance and won't be. What it is, however, is good enough for almost everything.

Node/JS offer some serious advantages. An expansive ecosystem of modules for which to build applications quickly. A well-known scripting language that allows for fast development and turn over. A language that allows for less distraction and context switching when going from one layer to another in terms of full stack development. Allows for a complete feature set to be in a single language with less disconnect to the front end.

I won't say there isn't a place for other languages. I will say that applications created with JS front and back using Node as at least the direct API/middle tier tend to be up and running faster, and perform well enough for most tasks if horizontal scaling is already part of the overall design of the application.

It also does well for cross platform scripting and orchestrating CPU intensive tasks.