Strongloop, the company that employs a few of Node.js' core contributors, has announced Strongloop Node 1.0 GA, the first version of its commercially supported distribution of Node.js intended for enterprise use. The distribution is based on Node.js v0.10.7 and includes some popular npm modules, including Express, Connect, Passport and others. In addition, the distribution ships with slnode, a command line tool to easily create and manage Node.js applications.
Why a commercially supported Node.js distribution is desirable is explained on the company's announcement blog post:
Our distribution gives you a path forward to get technical support and bug fix coverage before heading into production. For developers who are new to Node, our distribution gives you the perfect starting point. Navigating over 30,000 modules and the unique features of Node itself can require a lot of mental overhead and be an overwhelming experience. StrongLoop Node comes with vetted modules, advanced features like message queue support, private npm repos, and a utility for scaffolding Node applications. It’s the easiest way to get started as a Node.js developer, or to upgrade your Node.js development experience.
We also offer subscription based support, priced accordingly, depending on where you are in your development cycle.
The list of included npm modules consists of many popular and widely used and battle-hardened modules complemented with some of Strongloop's own modules (prefixed with "SL"):
- Express – a web application framework
- Connect – a rich middleware framework
- Passport – a simple, unobtrusive authentication
- Mongoose – an mongodb object modeling library
- Async – higher-order functions and common patterns for asynchronous code
- Q – a tool for making and composing asynchronous promises in JavaScript
- Request – a simplified HTTP request client
- Socket.IO – cross-browser WebSocket for realtime apps
- Engine.IO – transport layer for real time data exchange
- SL Task Emitter– perform an unknown number of async tasks recursively
- SL Config Loader – recursively load config files
- SL Module Loader – separate your app into modules loaded by config files
- SL MQ – MQ API with cluster integration, implemented over various message queues
Strongloop is the first company to create a commercially supported distribution of Node.js. With this release Strongloop attempts to open the door to more enterprise adoption of Node.js.
Strongloop Node 1.0 is downloadable for free from the company's website and supported on RHEL/CentOS, Debian/Ubuntu, Mac OS X 10.8 and Microsoft Windows 7.