Node.js April 2022 Update: v12 End‑of‑Life, v18 Release & LTS Roadmap

Node.js Version Dynamics

In April 2022 Node.js has two major changes: v12 will reach end of LTS on 2022‑04‑30, ending maintenance, and v18 will be released on 2022‑04‑19.

The 2021 Node.js Developer Survey showed about 30% of respondents still used v12, a sizable share, so it is advisable to upgrade environments to v14 or v16 to avoid future production risks.

Node.js Version Policy

Node.js follows a stable version policy; see “How many Node.js versions are there and how to choose?” for details.

Even-numbered releases are published in April and are supported for six months.

An odd-numbered release appears in October; the most recent even version then enters Active LTS for 18 months with no breaking feature updates, allowing safe upgrades.

After 18 months Active LTS, the version moves to Maintenance LTS for 12 months, receiving only security and bug fixes.

After the 12‑month Maintenance period, the version reaches End‑of‑Life and is retired.

Current and future releases can be viewed on the Node.js official Releases page.

My Memory of Node.js Versions

The author started with Node.js v4 during the early days, witnessed the transition from io.js, and notes that v18 is now arriving, highlighting the rapid iteration speed.

Memorable features include:

v4 – learning callback‑style development.

v7 & v8 – introduction of async/await.

v13 – AsyncLocalStorage support.

v14 – ESM support.

v16 – Corepack support.

Thanks to Node.js’s robust evolution, developers can adopt new JavaScript features promptly and safely in production.

Which Node.js version or feature has left the biggest impression on you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

References

[1]

Node.js Developer Survey: https://nodersurvey.github.io/reporters/index.html [2] “How many Node.js versions are there and how to choose?”: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/77140095 [3] Releases page: https://nodejs.org/en/about/releases/ [4] AsyncLocalStorage: https://nodejs.org/api/async_context.html#class-asynclocalstorage [5] ESM: https://nodejs.org/api/esm.html [6] Corepack: https://nodejs.org/api/corepack.html