What's new in Node.js 19.0.0?

Maria Thompson, Nov 15, 2022

At the end of October, the 19th version of the Node platform was released.js, and the current LTS becomes version 18. And what's new in the 19th version?

⚡ New parameter - watch

Added a new parameter --watch (still experimental). Example: node --watch foo.js . Running the script with the --watch parameter will ensure an automatic restart when changes are made to the code. This is convenient at the development and debugging stage. A similar functionality is provided by the nodemon package. You can test the --watch parameter not only in 19.0.0, but also in the most recent 18.11.0.

⚡ Default KeepAlive for HTTP(S)/1.1

Starting from the 19th version, keepAlive is enabled by default. Thus, any outgoing HTTP connection will use HTTP 1.1 with the Keep-Alive header. The timeout for closing the connection is set to 5 seconds by default. Enabling keep-alive can improve throughput by reusing connections for the following requests.

⚡ Stable WebCrypto API

The WebCrypto API has become stable (except for algorithms: Ed25519, Ed448, X25519, and X448). To use the WebCrypto API, connect the globalThis.crypto or require module ('node:crypto').webcrypto.

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⚡ Removed the --experimental-specifier-resolution parameter

Similar functionality is achieved through the use of custom loaders.

⚡ DTrace/SystemTap/ETW support

DTrace/SystemTap/ETW support was removed in 19.0.0. The main reason: lack of necessary resources of the development team Node.js .

⚡ V8 updated to 10.7

An updated V8 was delivered to the 19th version. This version of the engine adds support for the updated Intl.NumberFormat (V3).