“Modern Node.js embraces web standards, reduces external dependencies, and provides a more intuitive developer experience.”
Node.js finally caught up to the web platform. Native fetch. Built-in test runner. ES modules by default. Watch mode. The node: prefix for builtins. Most of the dependency bloat from the past decade was working around missing features that are now standard. Good overview of what’s actually usable in 2025 without reaching for npm.