Can node.js be used as a framework for running arbitrary server-side Javascript in web applications?

Question

Can node.js be used as a general framework for running server-side Javascript specifically for web applications, totally unrelated to it's non-blocking and asynchrouns I/O functionality? Specifically I want to know if I can run arbitrary Javascript on the (web) server without using the other node.js functionality.

Answer 1

Yes, it's possible to use node.js for command-line applications, for example:

$ cat hello.js
console.log('Hello world!');
$ node hello.js
Hello world!

It's essentially just like any scripting language in this regard.