This document defines a project titled Oden.js (an anagram of Node and Deno). It is intended to be a way to run "JavaScript" on a server but with the following limitations:

• Only JavaScript features that are beneficial in a server context are retained
• Many existing features are hidden behind require() calls
• This is essentially a fork of JavaScript (via V8)
• This is essentially a fork of Node.js (by modifying APIs)

Overview #

Node.js API Modifications #

Based on the number of modifications required this would need to be implemented as a "hard fork" of Node.js. I don't think it would be feasable to float patches on top of Node.js.

New Internal Modules #

• TODO

Dropped Functionality #

• The Buffer class is removed entirely since TypedArray should suffice.
• Either completely remove require() or completely remove import. One of CJS or ESM is fine.

JavaScript & V8 Modifications #

I don't know much about V8 but I think it would also need to be a "hard fork" of V8.

Dropped Functionality #

• typeof is modified so that typeof null returns the string 'null'
• TODO: can eval be removed entirely?
• TODO: explain object stringifying philosophy, returning JSON, Map and Set