Strongnode vs Nodejs - What are strongnode's advantages?

Question

The toolset that strongnode adds is a clear advantage over plain nodejs, for example with its command line tool you can scaffold, monitor and provide a mobile backend for your nodejs apps.

But in their site they state that:

[...] The advantage of StrongNode over Node.js is that at StrongLoop we curate, test and certify a selection of modules and tools that cover the most common use cases for your Node.js application development needs.

I would like to know, what does it mean and what is the benefit of having curated, tested and certified node modules?

Answer 1

I would like to know, what does it mean and what is the benefit of having curated, tested and certified node modules?

Why do you buy cereal from the same brand every time? Why do people stick to the same brand of cars every time they buy a new one? Why are people happy when a product is certified by the FDA or whatever relevant authority?

Predictability, stability and security, mostly.

The NPM archives are open, meaning everyone can submit changes, also unstable ones, or those introducing security loopholes in your app. When only a proven selection of stable and secure modules is available to your app, you run less risk of hacking.

The concept is similar to Debian's Stable distribution, which doesn't change packages for years and just backports security fixes.

Answer 2

I work at StrongLoop. In addition to providing the command-line tools (slc) which integrate capabilities like debugging and monitoring setup, we're working on a way to receive the same benefits of using StrongNode without having to use a special installer. That said, many have told us that having installers and things like the pre-built AMI on Amazon EC2 are a nice aid to them.