How many deno scripts distributed via Homebrew ?
What is Deno ? 🔗
Deno (pronounced “dee-no”) is a secure, modern runtime for JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly, co-created by Ryan Dahl, who also developed Node.js. Built on the V8 JavaScript engine and the Rust programming language, it was designed to address fundamental design flaws in Node.js, specifically regarding security, module management, and tooling.
Core Features and Philosophy of Deno 🔗
Deno aims to be a productive scripting environment that adheres to modern web standards. Unlike older runtimes, it bundles essential development tools directly into a single executable binary.
- Security by Default: Deno runs code in a sandbox. Scripts cannot access the file system, network, or environment variables unless you explicitly grant permission using flags like
--allow-netor--allow-read. - First-Class TypeScript Support: TypeScript is supported natively, meaning you can run
.tsfiles directly without setting up a complex build pipeline ortsconfig.jsonfile. - Built-in Tooling: It ships with a complete toolchain, including a dependency inspector, code formatter (
deno fmt), linter (deno lint), and test runner (deno test), eliminating the need for external tools like Prettier or ESLint. - Decentralized Modules: Deno abandons package managers like
npmand thenode_modulesfolder. Instead, it imports modules directly via URLs (e.g.,import { serve } from "https://deno.land/std/http/server.ts";), mimicking how browsers load scripts.
Comparison with Node.js 🔗
While both runtimes share the same creator and use the V8 engine, they differ significantly in architecture and workflow.
| Feature | Deno | Node.js |
|---|---|---|
| Security | Restricted by default (must allow access) | Unrestricted access to system resources |
| Language | TypeScript and JavaScript supported natively | JavaScript native; TypeScript requires compilation |
| Packages | URL-based imports; no package.json required | Centralized npm registry; relies on node_modules |
| Standard Library | extensive built-in library modeled after Go | Limited built-in library; relies heavily on npm |
| APIs | Uses modern Promises and web-standard APIs | Uses callbacks and Node-specific APIs |
Architecture and Origin 🔗
Deno was officially released in May 2020, following a famous talk by Ryan Dahl titled “10 Things I Regret About Node.js”, where he outlined the technical debt and design errors he wished to correct.
The runtime relies on:
- Rust: Provides the core infrastructure and event loop implementation.
- V8 Engine: The same Google-developed JavaScript engine used by Chrome and Node.js.
- Tokio: An asynchronous runtime for Rust (implicit in its Rust-based event-driven architecture).
Deno is often used for building web servers, scripting automation tasks, and developing modern cloud-native applications where security and TypeScript integration are priorities.
Statistics of Deno 🔗
On December 16th 2025, The number of CLI apps written in deno and distributed via Homebrew Core Formulae is 2 apps.
You can compare the count of deno scripts with node.js ’s, yarn ’s and bun’s (nothing for bun).
Apps written in deno and distributed via Homebrew Core Formulae 🔗
- fedify : CLI toolchain for Fedify
- yt-dlp : Feature-rich command-line audio/video downloader
I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you know a person who can benefit from this information, send them a link of this post. If you want to get notified about new posts, follow me on YouTube , Twitter (x) , LinkedIn , and GitHub .