Building Native Node.js 12 Addons on z/OS
Here I will show how you can build a native C++ addon for Node.js on z/OS.
It takes a little effort but it can be done! IBM has ported Node.js to z/OS so you can run Node.js server applications on z/OS. You can download it from the IBM website: IBM SDK for Node.js — z/OS — Overview.
You can install the base Node.js to z/OS by following instructions in this story:
In this story, you will see how to install the provided C/C++ compiler so you will be able to build native extensions with node-gyp.
When do you need to write a native addon for Node.js on z/OS? There are two main reasons. The first one is to optimize the performance-sensitive code such as CPU intensive calculations. Second, is to interoperate with a native mainframe application that you have on z/OS.
Prerequisites
You need to have all the prerequisites listed at https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSTRRS_12.0.0/com.ibm.nodejs.zos.v12.doc/paxz.htm:
