If you have just started out working with Node.js then there are a couple of things that you need to know. For instance, its release cycle, the installation, its version management, etc.
I am going to quickly explain all of them so you can get a basic understanding.
Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on top of the Chrome V8 engine. It allows you to run JavaScript on your backend. With Node.js, you can also run JavaScript on your terminal.
There are a total of three versions of Node.js. Let’s take a look at them one by one.
This version contains all the new features with breaking API changes. It does not provide fallbacks so you would need to keep this in mind if you are planning to use this version.
This version has all the new features. These features will not break your API. It also includes bug fixes that are not available in the Current version.
This version of Node.js is only limited to bug fixes. You will not get any new features with it.
You can install Node.js by going to its website and downloading its binary. But since Node.js is constantly getting updates, this way of installing Node.js is not considered the best practice.
There are a couple of Node.js version managers available that you can use to keep your Node.js version up-to-date. For instance, nvm, n, asdf, nodenv, etc. I personally recommend using n since it is extremely and does not involve adding anything to your bash_profile.
These are a couple of important things that you should keep in mind when working with Node.js. I would recommend you to use the latest version that is Current version of Node.js. And along with it, n for its version control.