Node.js v18.20.5 documentation

Hello world#

This "Hello world" example is a simple addon, written in C++, that is the equivalent of the following JavaScript code:

module.exports.hello = () => 'world'; copy

First, create the file hello.cc:

// hello.cc
#include <node.h>

namespace demo {

using v8::FunctionCallbackInfo;
using v8::Isolate;
using v8::Local;
using v8::Object;
using v8::String;
using v8::Value;

void Method(const FunctionCallbackInfo<Value>& args) {
  Isolate* isolate = args.GetIsolate();
  args.GetReturnValue().Set(String::NewFromUtf8(
      isolate, "world").ToLocalChecked());
}

void Initialize(Local<Object> exports) {
  NODE_SET_METHOD(exports, "hello", Method);
}

NODE_MODULE(NODE_GYP_MODULE_NAME, Initialize)

}  // namespace demo copy

All Node.js addons must export an initialization function following the pattern:

void Initialize(Local<Object> exports);
NODE_MODULE(NODE_GYP_MODULE_NAME, Initialize) copy

There is no semi-colon after NODE_MODULE as it's not a function (see node.h).

The module_name must match the filename of the final binary (excluding the .node suffix).

In the hello.cc example, then, the initialization function is Initialize and the addon module name is addon.

When building addons with node-gyp, using the macro NODE_GYP_MODULE_NAME as the first parameter of NODE_MODULE() will ensure that the name of the final binary will be passed to NODE_MODULE().

Addons defined with NODE_MODULE() can not be loaded in multiple contexts or multiple threads at the same time.

Context-aware addons#

There are environments in which Node.js addons may need to be loaded multiple times in multiple contexts. For example, the Electron runtime runs multiple instances of Node.js in a single process. Each instance will have its own require() cache, and thus each instance will need a native addon to behave correctly when loaded via require(). This means that the addon must support multiple initializations.

A context-aware addon can be constructed by using the macro NODE_MODULE_INITIALIZER, which expands to the name of a function which Node.js will expect to find when it loads an addon. An addon can thus be initialized as in the following example:

using namespace v8;

extern "C" NODE_MODULE_EXPORT void
NODE_MODULE_INITIALIZER(Local<Object> exports,
                        Local<Value> module,
                        Local<Context> context) {
  /* Perform addon initialization steps here. */
} copy

Another option is to use the macro NODE_MODULE_INIT(), which will also construct a context-aware addon. Unlike NODE_MODULE(), which is used to construct an addon around a given addon initializer function, NODE_MODULE_INIT() serves as the declaration of such an initializer to be followed by a function body.

The following three variables may be used inside the function body following an invocation of NODE_MODULE_INIT():

• Local<Object> exports,
• Local<Value> module, and
• Local<Context> context

The choice to build a context-aware addon carries with it the responsibility of carefully managing global static data. Since the addon may be loaded multiple times, potentially even from different threads, any global static data stored in the addon must be properly protected, and must not contain any persistent references to JavaScript objects. The reason for this is that JavaScript objects are only valid in one context, and will likely cause a crash when accessed from the wrong context or from a different thread than the one on which they were created.

The context-aware addon can be structured to avoid global static data by performing the following steps:

• Define a class which will hold per-addon-instance data and which has a static member of the form

  static void DeleteInstance(void* data) {
    // Cast `data` to an instance of the class and delete it.
  } copy

• Heap-allocate an instance of this class in the addon initializer. This can be accomplished using the new keyword.
• Call node::AddEnvironmentCleanupHook(), passing it the above-created instance and a pointer to DeleteInstance(). This will ensure the instance is deleted when the environment is torn down.
• Store the instance of the class in a v8::External, and
• Pass the v8::External to all methods exposed to JavaScript by passing it to v8::FunctionTemplate::New() or v8::Function::New() which creates the native-backed JavaScript functions. The third parameter of v8::FunctionTemplate::New() or v8::Function::New() accepts the v8::External and makes it available in the native callback using the v8::FunctionCallbackInfo::Data() method.

This will ensure that the per-addon-instance data reaches each binding that can be called from JavaScript. The per-addon-instance data must also be passed into any asynchronous callbacks the addon may create.

The following example illustrates the implementation of a context-aware addon:

#include <node.h>

using namespace v8;

class AddonData {
 public:
  explicit AddonData(Isolate* isolate):
      call_count(0) {
    // Ensure this per-addon-instance data is deleted at environment cleanup.
    node::AddEnvironmentCleanupHook(isolate, DeleteInstance, this);
  }

  // Per-addon data.
  int call_count;

  static void DeleteInstance(void* data) {
    delete static_cast<AddonData*>(data);
  }
};

static void Method(const v8::FunctionCallbackInfo<v8::Value>& info) {
  // Retrieve the per-addon-instance data.
  AddonData* data =
      reinterpret_cast<AddonData*>(info.Data().As<External>()->Value());
  data->call_count++;
  info.GetReturnValue().Set((double)data->call_count);
}

// Initialize this addon to be context-aware.
NODE_MODULE_INIT(/* exports, module, context */) {
  Isolate* isolate = context->GetIsolate();

  // Create a new instance of `AddonData` for this instance of the addon and
  // tie its life cycle to that of the Node.js environment.
  AddonData* data = new AddonData(isolate);

  // Wrap the data in a `v8::External` so we can pass it to the method we
  // expose.
  Local<External> external = External::New(isolate, data);

  // Expose the method `Method` to JavaScript, and make sure it receives the
  // per-addon-instance data we created above by passing `external` as the
  // third parameter to the `FunctionTemplate` constructor.
  exports->Set(context,
               String::NewFromUtf8(isolate,