Node.js 2020 Roadmap: New Features, Release Schedule, and What to Expect

In 2019 Node.js turned ten, with over one million npm packages and download numbers up 40% year‑over‑year; it also joined the OpenJS Foundation to improve project health and sustainability.

Node.js continues to grow, and the 2020 roadmap promises several exciting updates.

What’s new in Node.js 13?

ECMAScript modules

WebAssembly support

Diagnostic reports

Full‑stack internationalization for dates, times, numbers, and currencies

QUIC protocol support

V8 engine performance improvements

Before diving into these features, consider the Node.js release plan.

2020 Node.js release schedule

New major versions are released every six months, in April and October. The current version at the time of writing is 13.x, released in October 2019.

Odd‑numbered versions (e.g., v9, v11, v13) are released each October, serve as test releases, and are not intended for production. Even‑numbered versions (e.g., v8, v10, v12) are released each April; after six months they become Long‑Term Support (LTS) releases, and after twelve months enter a maintenance phase before reaching end‑of‑life (EOL).

2020 schedule

Q1‑Q3 2020

13.x is the current active version

10.x and 12.x are LTS

April 2020

14.x released and becomes current

13.x development stops

10.x moves to maintenance

October 2020

15.x released and becomes current

14.x enters LTS

12.x moves to maintenance

Note: The 8.x lifecycle ends (EOL) because it depends on OpenSSL‑1.0.2, which is also scheduled to end at the end of 2019. If you have not upgraded, plan to move your 8.x applications to 10.x or 12.x.

ECMAScript module support

Starting with v13.2.0, Node.js supports both traditional CommonJS modules and the new ECMAScript (ES) module standard, allowing import and export syntax. ES modules run in strict mode by default, so a "use strict" directive is unnecessary.

To enable ES modules you must either use the .mjs file extension or set "type": "module" in a package.json file.

// message file
async function sendMessage { ... }
export { sendMessage };
// index file
import { sendMessage } from "./message";

Alternatively, you can set "type": "module" in the root package.json and rename CommonJS files to .cjs.

{
  "type": "module"
}

Node.js can import WebAssembly modules

Node.js also allows importing WebAssembly (Wasm) modules, which are portable binary formats that run faster than JavaScript and can be built from languages such as C/C++, Go, Rust, etc. Support is experimental and must be enabled via a command‑line flag. node --experimental-wasm-modules index.js Example usage with a hypothetical image‑processing Wasm library:

import * as imageUtils from "./imageUtils.wasm";
import * as fs from "fs";
(async () => {
  const image = await fs.promises.readFile("./image.png");
  const updatedImage = await imageUtils.rotate90degrees(image);
})();

You can also use dynamic import() to load a Wasm module:

"use strict";
const fs = require("fs");
(async () => {
  const imageUtils = await import("./imageUtils.wasm");
  const image = await fs.promises.readFile("./image.png");
  const updatedImage = await imageUtils.rotate90degrees(image);
})();

WebAssembly System Interface (WASI)

WASI provides a standard API for WebAssembly to safely interact with the host operating system, enabling system‑level calls when needed. Initial WASI support has recently been submitted to the Node.js project and is an exciting 2020 feature.

Diagnostic reports

Diagnostic reports are human‑readable JSON summaries of process information, including stack traces, OS details, loaded modules, and more. They can be triggered on uncaught exceptions, fatal errors, signals, or via the new process.report API. The feature is still experimental and requires a command‑line flag.

node --experimental-report --report-uncaught-exception --report-filename=./diagnostics.json index.js

Internationalization support expands

From v13.x onward, Node.js ships with full ICU (International Components for Unicode) support, providing comprehensive formatting for numbers, dates, times, currencies, and Unicode conversions.

Other Node.js updates in 2020

QUIC protocol support for higher performance and reliability

Improved Python 3 build support for building Node.js and native modules

Updated V8 engine (v7.8 and v7.9) with performance gains and better Wasm support

Stable Worker Threads API for parallel and CPU‑intensive JavaScript workloads

Further learning

This article is just the beginning of the many improvements planned for Node.js in 2020. To stay up‑to‑date or contribute, visit the Node.js website for a list of ways to get involved.