What is Node.js? Node.js is a javascript runtime environment. The runtime environment provides everything which is required for a piece of code to run/execute. It contains the libraries, and environment variables and provides memory, resources such as files, sockets, etc, and proper initialization and disposal of allocated memory to the program. What is Django? Django is a Python Framework for backend web development. A framework is a kind of template using which we can create applications easily without manually doing all the stuff and can focus more on developing features rather than doing the setup. For example, a framework contains functions that can process input, manage hardware, interact with system software (eg operating system), etc. Express.js is used as a backend web development framework for Node.js. Both node.js and Django are cross-platform, open-source tools with vast community support. A tool is said to be cross-platform when it can run on various operating systems and devices which are referred to as platforms e.g. Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS, etc. Security Django has an in-built security provider mechanism whereas it has to be done manually in node.js. The main idea behind providing security in web apps is to never trust any data coming from the browser. Because of using microservices, it becomes difficult in node.js to ensure security as data is coming from various sources. Django provides protection against various types of security attacks some of which are: Cross-site scripting – where malicious javascript code is either stored in the database or executed through the browser using client-side scripting. When to use Node.js or Django? Django can be used when we need to build an application quickly or when security can be a major concern such as for applications in the fintech domain. Also, it can be used when the application has a large amount of data because Django’s in-built ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) and admin interface make it easy Node.js can be used when we want to implement microservices or for services that require high bandwidth. It is also recommended to use node.js when we require live streaming or for real-time applications in general, like chat applications, collaboration tools, etc.