| # About this documentation |
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| <!--introduced_in=v0.10.0--> |
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| <!-- type=misc --> |
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| Welcome to the official API reference documentation for Node.js! |
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| Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on the [V8 JavaScript engine][]. |
| |
| ## Contributing |
| |
| Report errors in this documentation in [the issue tracker][]. See |
| [the contributing guide][] for directions on how to submit pull requests. |
| |
| ## Stability index |
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| <!--type=misc--> |
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| Throughout the documentation are indications of a section's stability. Some APIs |
| are so proven and so relied upon that they are unlikely to ever change at all. |
| Others are brand new and experimental, or known to be hazardous. |
| |
| The stability indexes are as follows: |
| |
| > Stability: 0 - Deprecated. The feature may emit warnings. Backward |
| > compatibility is not guaranteed. |
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| <!-- separator --> |
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| > Stability: 1 - Experimental. The feature is not subject to |
| > [semantic versioning][] rules. Non-backward compatible changes or removal may |
| > occur in any future release. Use of the feature is not recommended in |
| > production environments. |
| > |
| > Experimental features are subdivided into stages: |
| > |
| > * 1.0 - Early development. Experimental features at this stage are unfinished |
| > and subject to substantial change. |
| > * 1.1 - Active development. Experimental features at this stage are nearing |
| > minimum viability. |
| > * 1.2 - Release candidate. Experimental features at this stage are hopefully |
| > ready to become stable. No further breaking changes are anticipated but may |
| > still occur in response to user feedback or the features' underlying |
| > specification development. We encourage user testing and feedback so that |
| > we can know that this feature is ready to be marked as stable. |
| > |
| > Experimental features leave the experimental status typically either by |
| > graduating to stable, or are removed without a deprecation cycle. |
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| <!-- separator --> |
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| > Stability: 2 - Stable. Compatibility with the npm ecosystem is a high |
| > priority. |
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| <!-- separator --> |
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| > Stability: 3 - Legacy. Although this feature is unlikely to be removed and is |
| > still covered by semantic versioning guarantees, it is no longer actively |
| > maintained, and other alternatives are available. |
| |
| Features are marked as legacy rather than being deprecated if their use does no |
| harm, and they are widely relied upon within the npm ecosystem. Bugs found in |
| legacy features are unlikely to be fixed. |
| |
| Use caution when making use of Experimental features, particularly when |
| authoring libraries. Users may not be aware that experimental features are being |
| used. Bugs or behavior changes may surprise users when Experimental API |
| modifications occur. To avoid surprises, use of an Experimental feature may need |
| a command-line flag. Experimental features may also emit a [warning][]. |
| |
| ## Stability overview |
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| <!-- STABILITY_OVERVIEW_SLOT_BEGIN --> |
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| <!-- STABILITY_OVERVIEW_SLOT_END --> |
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| ## JSON output |
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| <!-- YAML |
| added: v0.6.12 |
| --> |
| |
| Every `.html` document has a corresponding `.json` document. This is for IDEs |
| and other utilities that consume the documentation. |
| |
| ## System calls and man pages |
| |
| Node.js functions which wrap a system call will document that. The docs link |
| to the corresponding man pages which describe how the system call works. |
| |
| Most Unix system calls have Windows analogues. Still, behavior differences may |
| be unavoidable. |
| |
| [V8 JavaScript engine]: https://v8.dev/ |
| [semantic versioning]: https://semver.org/ |
| [the contributing guide]: https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/HEAD/CONTRIBUTING.md |
| [the issue tracker]: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/new |
| [warning]: process.md#event-warning |
