Node.js 15.0.0, the latest version of the event-driven JavaScript runtime that now has competition from the Deno runtime, was released October 20, with an experimental transport protocol for HTTP/3 and the latest version of the NPM package manager.

Downloadable from Nodejs.org, Node.js 15.0.0 replaces Node.js 14 as the “current” release line, with Node.js promoted to LTS (long-term support) status later this month. Node.js 15, as an odd-numbered release, will not be promoted to LTS status.

Node.js has faced criticism lately from an unlikely source – Node.js creator Ryan Dahl, who has since created Deno to address Node.js shortcomings he has cited such as security. But the developers behind Node.js remain committed to their platform.

“The Node.js project and technical steering committee do not have an official position on Deno,” said Bethany Griggs, the release manager for Node.js 15. “My personal opinion is that having other runtime implementations such as Deno helps to drive innovation forwards overall,” she added. “I believe there’s space for them to coexist.”

Node.js 15.0.0 covers a multitude of areas, with features including:

  • QUIC, a UDP transport protocol that is the underlying transport protocol for HTTP/3. Support for QUIC is now experimental. QUIC features built-in security with TLS 1.3, flow control, error correction, connection migration, and multiplexing.
  • The default mode for unhandledRejection has been changed to throw from warn. In throw mode, if an unhandledRejection hook is not set, the unhandledRejection is raised as an uncaught exception. Node.js participant IBM said enhancements for unhandled rejections provide a more streamlined view of these rejections to make it easier to find and debug any problems.
  • NPM 7.0.0, the latest version of the JavaScript package manager.
  • N-API 7, which brings additional methods for working with array buffers. This already was backported into the Node.js 14.x line.
  • An experimental implementation of AbortController, a global utility class to signal cancellation in selected Promises-based APIs, based on the AbortController web API.

The Node.js team also noted that Node.js 10 will reach end-of-life status April 21, and advised users to plan upgrades. They have published a technical values document to guide the further development of the platform.

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