Node.js 22 is now in Long Term Support (LTS), bringing stability and new features for production applications.
V8 Engine 12.4
The updated V8 engine brings:
- Array.fromAsync for async iteration
- Set methods (union, intersection, difference)
- Improved regex performance
- Better memory management
Native WebSocket Client
Node.js now includes a built-in WebSocket client, eliminating the need for external packages:
const ws = new WebSocket('wss://example.com/socket');
ws.onmessage = (event) => console.log(event.data);require() for ESM
You can now use require() to load ES modules synchronously, simplifying migration from CommonJS.
Performance Improvements
Benchmarks show significant gains:
- 15% faster HTTP parsing
- 20% improvement in stream operations
- Reduced memory footprint for long-running processes
Watch Mode Improvements
The built-in --watch flag is now more reliable and supports glob patterns for ignoring files.
Upgrade Path
Most applications can upgrade directly. Test thoroughly, especially if you rely on native modules that may need recompilation.
Node.js 22 LTS is ready for production and will receive security updates until April 2027.
