Deno is a secure runtime environment for JavaScript and TypeScript, created by Ryan Dahl, the same developer who created Node.js. Deno offers improved security features, such as a built-in sandbox and permission-based system, making it a viable alternative to Node.js for certain use cases. In this article, we will explore what Deno is, how it's used outside of PPE, and how it's used with PPE.
Deno is an open-source runtime environment for JavaScript and TypeScript that runs on top of the V8 JavaScript engine, which is also used by Google Chrome. Deno was created with the goal of addressing some of the issues that Node.js has faced, including security vulnerabilities and a lack of standardization for the package ecosystem. One of the most significant differences between Deno and Node.js is that Deno doesn't use a package manager like NPM, but instead relies on importing modules using URLs.
Outside of PPE, Deno is used in a variety of contexts, including web development, server-side scripting, and command-line tools. Deno is particularly useful for creating command-line tools because of its ability to easily import modules using URLs, making it easy to create self-contained, portable scripts that can be run anywhere. Deno is also popular in the web development community because of its support for TypeScript and its built-in testing and formatting tools.
In PPE, Deno is used as the engine for evaluating policy expressions. Policy expressions are JavaScript code that defines the rules for what is considered compliant within an organization. Deno's built-in security features make it an excellent choice for this use case because it can run untrusted code in a secure sandbox environment.
Overall, Deno is a powerful tool for running JavaScript and TypeScript code in a secure and efficient way. Its built-in security features and permission-based system make it an excellent choice for use cases where security is a top concern, such as in PPE's policy evaluation engine.