Node.js 18 is released recently, There are some interesting features added in Node.js 18.

Node.js 18 will be the 'Current' release for the next 6 months and then promoted to Long-term Support (LTS) in October 2022. Once promoted to long-term support the release will be designated the codename 'Hydrogen'. Node.js 18 will be supported until April 2025.

Release Note: here

Features of Node.js 18.x:

fetch (experimental)

It's been a long-waited feature of Node.js 18. It is a new fetch API that is based on the WHATWG Fetch standard.
fetch is already supported by almost all modern browsers.

const get = async (url) => {
  const res = await fetch(url);
  if (res.ok) {
    const data = await res.json();
    console.log(data);
  }
};

It's possible to disable the API by supplying the --no-experimental-fetch command-line flag.

Web Streams API (experimental)

Node.js 18 introduces the Web Streams API. It'll be globally available now.

• ReadableStream
• ReadableStreamDefaultReader
• ReadableStreamBYOBReader
• ReadableStreamBYOBRequest
• ReadableByteStreamController
• ReadableStreamDefaultController
• TransformStream
• TransformStreamDefaultController
• WritableStream
• WritableStreamDefaultWriter
• WritableStreamDefaultController
• ByteLengthQueuingStrategy
• CountQueuingStrategy
• TextEncoderStream
• TextDecoderStream
• CompressionStream
• DecompressionStream.

Test runner module (experimental)

This is a new test runner module that does not completely replace other test runners like jest or mocha. but does offer a quick and easy way to run a test suite without any additional dependencies.

import test from "node:test";
test("Number:Test", async (t) => {
  await t.test("Check numbers are equal", () => {
    assert.strictEqual(1, 1);
  });
});

V8 engine update

The V8 engine is updated to version 10.1, which is part of Chromium 101.
https://nodejs.org/en/blog/announcements/v18-release-announce/#v8-10-1

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