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Deno 1.0 – First Impressions of Node’s New Rival

August 10, 2020

Deno is a secure runtime for JavaScript and TypeScript created by Ryan Dahl, the original creator of Node.js. Deno 1.0 was released with some strong opinions and a clear goal: improve on Node by learning from its limitations.

Key Features

  • Built-in TypeScript support
  • Uses ES module imports (URLs or local paths)
  • No node_modules folder or package.json
  • Secure by default (no file, network, or environment access unless allowed)
  • Ships as a single binary
  • Comes with built-in utilities like a formatter, bundler, and test runner

Basic Script Example

// hello.ts
console.log("Hello from Deno");

Run it with:

deno run hello.ts

Deno checks permissions by default. For example, to allow reading files:

deno run --allow-read hello.ts

Importing Modules

import { serve } from "https://deno.land/std@0.61.0/http/server.ts";

const s = serve({ port: 8000 });
console.log("Listening on http://localhost:8000");

for await (const req of s) {
  req.respond({ body: "Hello Deno\n" });
}
  • No npm install
  • No package.json
  • Modules are cached and compiled once

Pros

  • Simpler setup
  • Secure by default
  • Strong focus on modern JavaScript
  • First-class TypeScript support

Cons

  • Smaller ecosystem compared to Node
  • Some missing mature libraries
  • Different standard modules from Node.js

Use Cases

Deno is well-suited for:

  • Scripts
  • Small web services
  • Secure server-side scripting
  • Learning modern JavaScript runtime internals

It's still early, but Deno is promising. Whether it replaces Node or carves out a niche remains to be seen. For now, it’s a clean and interesting option, especially for new projects that value security and simplicity.

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