node

This repository is the source code for Node.js. The README describes Node.js as an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment. In plain terms, JavaScript is the language that originally ran inside web browsers; Node.js takes that same language out of the browser and lets it run as a standalone program on your computer or on a server, so the same language can be used to build command-line tools, servers, and other backend software.

The README focuses less on tutorials and more on how the project itself is run. It explains that Node.js follows an open governance model, with support from the OpenJS Foundation, and decisions are made by a Technical Steering Committee with collaborators and triagers. It also walks through the release model: Current releases are under active development with a new major version every six months in April and October; even-numbered majors become Long Term Support, or LTS, releases, with twelve months of active support and a further eighteen months of maintenance, named alphabetically with code names like Argon and Hydrogen; and Nightly builds are produced every twenty-four hours from the Current branch, intended for testing rather than daily use. The README links out to download pages, instructions for verifying downloads with PGP-signed SHA checksums, and a separate BUILDING.md for compiling Node.js from source.

You would use this repository to pick the right Node.js release line, verify a downloaded binary, build from source, or contribute to the project. Day-to-day usage of the runtime is described on the Node.js website rather than here. The primary language is JavaScript.