This post is from 2014 - check out the update!

For most of the nearly twenty years since its inception, JavaScript lacked many of the niceties that made other programming languages like Python and Ruby so attractive: command-line interfaces, a REPL, a package manager, and an organized open-source community. Thanks in part to Node.js and npm, today's JavaScript landscape is dramatically improved. Web developers wield powerful new tools, and are limited only by their imagination.

What follows is a list of tips and techniques to keep you and your node apps happy.

1. Start new projects with npm init

npm includes an init command which walks you through the process of creating a...

Last week we released a new version of our node buildpack that features dependency caching, faster downloads of the node binary, and support for any recent version of node. This new build process is now the default for all node apps on Heroku, so keep deploying your apps as you normally would and you should start to notice the speed improvements.

Faster Deployments

The new buildpack makes use of a build cache to store the node_modules directory between builds. This caching can mean dramatically reduced build times, particularly in cases where your modules include binary dependencies like pg, bson, or ws.

We've also shaved time off the build process by caching precompiled node...

Today we’re happy to announce Heroku’s Europe region, available in public beta. With more than 3 million apps running on our platform from developers all over the globe, it's not surprising that we've had high demand for Heroku in more regions of the world. After collaborating closely with customers during private beta, we're now ready to offer Heroku services in Europe to all customers as part of a public beta. The Europe region runs Heroku applications from datacenters located in Europe, offering improved performance for users in that region.

One Heroku, Two Continents

The Europe region offers all the features of the existing US region. Both regions run apps on...

Heroku Add-ons make it easy for developers to extend their applications with new features and functionality. The Add-on Provider Program has enabled cloud service providers with key business tools, including billing, single sign-on, and an integrated end-user support experience. Since the launch of the Heroku Add-ons site over two years ago, the marketplace has grown to nearly 100 add-ons. As the add-ons ecosystem has grown, we've learned a lot about how cloud service providers structure their businesses and how users interact with them.

Today we're happy to announce the launch of the updated Heroku Add-ons site.

The goal of the new site is to make it even easier to find, compare,...