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sigh.. I know python is cool and all (and I know Jeff (progrium) somewhat), but being able to do development in the front-end and backend with the same language (javascript) makes things so much easier sometimes. I am by no means a python expert (I'm still learning), but the two languages just feel different, and I really really enjoy the prototypical/functional nature of javascript. Maybe python has this as well, and I'm just missing it? Anyway, node.js deserves all the hype it is getting.

There's one key difference between Node.js and Twisted / EventMachine / other non-blocking IO frameworks for existing languages: Node.js doesn't have any blocking function calls. You have to try really, really hard to block your event loop in Node.js. Every single library released for Node.js works asynchronously, and is hence safe to use.

Not having to even worry about whether or not a library I want to use is blocking is a really useful feature.

Try check out Cramp. http://m.onkey.org/2010/1/7/introducing-cramp.

It's built on top of EventMachine - Ruby equivalent of Twisted.