Web Dev//runtime//V8

JavaScript engine developed by Google. Compiles JS/TypeScript to machine code and executes it. The heart of Chrome, Node.js, and Cloudflare Workers.

JavaScript engine developed by Google. Compiles JS/TypeScript to machine code and executes it. The heart of Chrome, Node.js, and Cloudflare Workers.

In the browser: V8 runs the frontend JS (the dist/ that Vite produces)

In Node.js: V8 + system APIs (filesystem, HTTP, streams) --> backend server

In Workers: V8 + Cloudflare APIs (D1, R2, KV) --> edge functions

Same engine, different runtimes: JS executes the same way, but the available APIs change