Quick post this morning to tell reader that EngineYard is rolling out yet another language/framework for its PaaS, this time Node.js. Alongside this fact (and we’ve all grown pretty well accustomed to PaaS players adding new languages and frameworks on a weekly basis, EngineYard is introducing a “labs” feature that is essentially a program whereby customers can try out new features and capabilities – it’s an approach made popular by other cloud vendors – Google apps has its “lab” feature and in the PaaS space Heroku has a well-established add on program.

Key details of today’s news are as follows;

Node.js

• Engine Yard is enabling support for Node.js applications on Engine Yard Cloud as its first Engine Yard Labs release
• Node.js is a popular event-driven framework written in JavaScript that is ideal for low-latency, real-time applications
• JavaScript is the 9th most popular programming languages (Tiobe index, Nov 2011). The language has moved from #11 to #9 in the past year
• Event-driven frameworks such as Node.js are ideal for highly interactive websites and will be particularly useful for companies building real-time, interactive applications

Engine Yard Labs

• Engine Yard Labs is a new program that will let customers try out experimental new features and capabilities
• This program will accelerate the pace of innovation by involving customers in the vetting of new ideas, incorporating feedback, and rapidly bringing the most promising features into Engine Yard products
• Features released through Engine Yard Labs are not officially supported and may or may not become supported as part of Engine Yard products in the future