Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine. It is an open-source, cross-platform runtime environment that executes JavaScript code outside of a web browser.

Node.js allows developers to build server-side applications with JavaScript, providing a runtime environment for building fast and scalable network applications. It is designed to be lightweight and efficient, and uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model which makes it highly scalable and well-suited for real-time applications.

One of the key benefits of using Node.js is that it allows developers to use a single language (JavaScript) for both the client-side and server-side of an application. This makes it easier to build full-stack web applications, and allows developers to take advantage of the many JavaScript libraries and frameworks that are available.

Node.js is widely used for building web servers, real-time applications, and networking tools, and is supported by a large and active community of developers. It is commonly used in combination with other technologies, such as the Express.js framework, to build web applications.

Overall, Node.js is a powerful and popular runtime environment for building fast and scalable network applications with JavaScript. It is widely used for building web servers, real-time applications, and networking tools, and is supported by a large and active community of developers.