# Learn node.js > Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform runtime environment for developing server-side web applications. Node.js applications are written in JavaScript and can be run within the Node.js runtime on OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, NonStop,[3] IBM AIX, IBM System z and IBM i. Its work is hosted and supported by the Node.js Foundation,[4] a collaborative project at Linux Foundation.[5] > Node.js provides an event-driven architecture and a non-blocking I/O API designed to optimize an application's throughput and scalability for real-time web applications. It uses Google V8 JavaScript engine to execute code, and a large percentage of the basic modules are written in JavaScript. Node.js contains a built-in library to allow applications to act as a web server without software such as Apache HTTP Server, Nginx or IIS. - wikipedia ##### General Learning: - [The Art of Node](https://github.com/maxogden/art-of-node#the-art-of-node) [read] - [Node.js Basics](http://teamtreehouse.com/library/nodejs-basics) [watch][$] - [io.js and Node.js Next: Getting Started](http://www.pluralsight.com/courses/running-node-applications-io-js) [watch][$] - [Learn all the nodes](https://learnallthenodes.com/episodes/1-what-is-nodejs) [watch] - [The Node Beginner Book](https://leanpub.com/nodebeginner) [read][$] - [Introduction to Node.js](http://www.pluralsight.com/courses/node-intro) [watch][$] - [Node.js in Practice](https://www.manning.com/books/node-js-in-practice#downloads) [read][$] - [Nodeschool.io](http://nodeschool.io/) [code]