Deno 1.44 also brings performance boosts, the ability to run Next.js applications, and the ability to connect to gRPC services. Credit: The Image Party / Shutterstock Deno Land has released Deno 1.44, the latest version of the JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly runtime rivaling Node.js. The upgrade adds support for private NPM registries, letting developers use internal packages with Deno by configuring an .npmrc file. Performance of the Deno runtime also has been improved. Deno 1.44 was announced May 30. Developers can upgrade to Deno 1.44 by running the deno upgrade command in their terminal. In explaining support for private NPM registries, Deno Land said many large organizations host private NPM registries to manage internal packages. Deno now supports using an .npmrc file to configure Deno to fetch private packages from a private registry. This capability is available when using private packages in a package.json or when importing packages directly using npm: specifiers. Deno 1.44 also brings performance improvements including reduced memory usage with V8 pointer compression, allowing the V8 JavaScript engine to store pointers more efficiently. This enhancement is particularly useful for scenarios with significant object allocations, leading to reduced memory consumption, Deno Land said. Other performance improvements include faster module loading, faster startups in AWS Lambda, and faster language server performance. Deno 1.44 also brings numerous Node.js compatibility improvements including the ability to run Next.js applications. There still are issues such as the need to use DENO_FUTURE=1, Deno Land said, but the developers are confident they can quickly work through these issues. Deno 1.44 follows Deno 1.43, which arrived on May 1 with an enhanced language server. Other new features and improvements in Deno 1.44: Deno can connect to gRPC services, such as Google Cloud Platform, using the @grpc/grpc-js client library. The Deno standard library is moving closer to stabilization. A new, stable DenoexitCode API allows getting and setting the exit code for a program. The language server has received performance improvements and bug fixes, including caching for semantic tokens for open documents and fixing JSDoc display in named examples. The FFI (Foreign Function Interface) API, for calling native libraries from JavaScript code, updates the handling of u64 and i64 types from native code. Starting with Deno 1.44, they will always be of type bigint, aligning the API with JavaScript’s handling of large integers and ensuring better performance and type consistency. Related content analysis Beyond the usual suspects: 5 fresh data science tools to try today The mid-month report includes quick tips for easier Python installation, a new VS Code-like IDE just for Python and R users, and five newer data science tools you won't want to miss. By Serdar Yegulalp Jul 12, 2024 2 mins Python Programming Languages Software Development analysis Generative AI won’t fix cloud migration You’ve probably heard how generative AI will solve all cloud migration problems. It’s not that simple. Generative AI could actually make it harder and more costly. By David Linthicum Jul 12, 2024 5 mins Generative AI Artificial Intelligence Cloud Computing news HR professionals trust AI recommendations HireVue survey finds 73% of HR professionals trust AI to make candidate recommendations, while 75% of workers are opposed to AI making hiring decisions. By Paul Krill Jul 11, 2024 3 mins Technology Industry Careers how-to Safety off: Programming in Rust with `unsafe` What does it mean to write unsafe code in Rust, and what can you do (and not do) with the 'unsafe' keyword? The facts may surprise you. By Serdar Yegulalp Jul 11, 2024 8 mins Rust Programming Languages Software Development Resources Videos