Together, Node.js and NPM make a very good platform for developing high-performance applications. Since the language behind them is JavaScript and most applications these days are web applications, these combinations make it an even more appealing choice, as it's one less server-side language to learn (such as PHP or Ruby) and can ultimately allow a developer to share code on the client and server sides. Also, frontend and backend developers can share, read, and improve each other's code. Many developers pick this formula and bring with them many of their habits from the client side. Some of these habits are not applicable because on the server side, asynchronous tasks must rule as there are many clients connected (as opposed to one) and performance becomes crucial.

In the next chapter, we will cover some development patterns that help applications stay simple, fast, and scalable as more clients come along and start putting pressure on your infrastructure.