Node 20

Update: Node.js v22 has been released!

Node.js recently announced that version 20 has been released.

It was only a few months ago that Node.js 19 was released. But this release improves upon 19 with performance improvements and new features.

A headline feature of Node.js 20 is the experimental permission model. By default, a Node.js process has unrestricted access to the filesystem and other features like child processes. With the new --experimental-permission flag you can enable the new permission model. Then you can use flags like --allow-fs-read and --allow-child-process to give granular permissions to a given process.

For more details, check out my short tutorial on the Permission Model.

The other notable feature of Node.js 20 is the now-stable test runner. The test runner offers basic testing features like those of Jest and Mocha. These features include describe and it/test functions, mocks, and parallel test execution.

For more details, check out my tutorial on the Test Runner.

I do not believe that the Node.js test runner will replace Jest and Mocha, but rather it will give a lightweight option when needed.

Node.js version 20 will become the next LTS release of Node.js in October 2023. At the time of writing, the current LTS is Node.js 18.

Further Reading

• Node.js version 20 release announcement
• Full version 20 changelog
• Node.js Test Runner docs
• Node.js Permission Model
• Permission Model tutorial
• Test Runner tutorial