Node.js 19 has been released with improvements including an update of the V8 JavaScript engine to 10.7, and the enabling by default of HTTP(s)/1.1 KeepAlive.

Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform asynchronous event driven JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's JavaScript engine. It uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O mode and executes JavaScript code outside web browsers.

Node.js 19 will replace Node.js 18 as the standard release when Node.js 18 enters long-term support (LTS) later this month, and will remain as the current release for the next 6 months, until April 2023.

The main improvement to this version is that Node.js sets keepAlive to true by default. This means that any outgoing HTTP(s) connection will automatically use HTTP 1.1 Keep-Alive. The default keep-alive duration is 5 seconds. The developers say this will deliver better throughput as connections are reused by default.

A second improvement is the marking of the WebCrypto API as stable with the exception of a few algorithms. The API is a collection of W3C standardized cryptography primitives as defined in the Web Cryptography API specification. It provides primitives for key generation, encryption and decryption, digital signatures, key and bit derivation, and cryptographic digest.

Other improvements include the removal of the --experimental-specifier-resolution flag, as its functionality can now be achieved via custom loaders. The new release has also removed support for DTrace, SystemTap and ETW. The developers say this was removed to ensure prioritization of resources, and that the complexity to keep the support up-to-date has proved not worth it without a clear plan to support these tools.

Node.js 19 is downloadable now.

More Information

Node.js Foundation Homepage

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