JavaScript (Node.js) Conference: Main Announcements of 2024

What was shown at the main Node.js conference in 2024?

This year, the traditional autumn conference on JavaScript (Node.js) gathered thousands of developers from around the world. The event was held under the slogan "Performance, Security, and Ecosystem." We have collected for you the most important announcements that everyone working with server-side JavaScript should know.

New LTS release Node.js 22

The main event was the announcement of the stable release of Node.js 22. The new version improves work with ES modules, adds experimental support for WebAssembly GC, and speeds up JavaScript file parsing by 15%.

• Built-in support for import assertions for secure JSON loading.
• Updated npm 11 with improved caching and security.
• Faster Event Loop due to libuv optimizations.

Express.js v5 — long-awaited major release

The developers of the popular framework Express.js have finally released the fifth version. Key changes:

• Full support for async/await in middleware (no more need to wrap in try/catch).
• Improved error handling with the new HttpError class.
• Updated routing API — now you can use dynamic segments without third-party libraries.
• 20% reduction in memory consumption for high-load applications.

Developer tools: new features

Several interesting tools that make life easier for Node.js developers were presented at the conference:

• Nodemon 4.0 — now automatically restarts the server only when files in the active directory change, not the entire project.
• Debugger Pro — an extension for VS Code with visualization of the call stack and threads.
• Fastify 5.0 — a new major release with improved typing for TypeScript.

Security and monitoring in focus

A separate section was dedicated to server application security. Among the announcements:

• Updated Helmet.js with blocking of new types of XSS attacks.
• Integration of OpenTelemetry directly into Node.js — no need to install separate packages for tracing anymore.
• Release of Node.js Security Toolkit — a set of scripts for automatic dependency auditing.

What to expect in 2025?

The conference concluded with a round table discussing the future of the ecosystem. Developers promised:

• Full TypeScript support "out of the box" in Node.js 24 (currently in experimental status).
• Improved compatibility with WebAssembly for running high-performance computations.
• A new thread isolation mechanism for Worker Threads.

Follow updates on pythonlib.ru — we will continue to cover the main events in the world of JavaScript and Node.js.