Cloudflare is buying Deno, the startup behind one of the best-known tools for running JavaScript code.

Cloudflare announced the deal on Friday, TechCrunch reported. It will use Deno to improve Workers, its platform that lets customers build and run software on Cloudflare's global network.

Deno was co-founded by Bert Belder and Ryan Dahl. Dahl created Node.js, the tool that made it possible to run JavaScript on servers and that powers a huge share of today's websites. He later built Deno as a more modern, secure alternative.

Deno recently launched celld, an open-source version of Cloudflare Workers. Cloudflare engineer Kenton Varda wrote that the release "delighted" his team, TechCrunch reported. Varda is principal engineer for Workers. He pushed back on "a popular theory" that celld forced Cloudflare's hand.

Cloudflare did not see celld as a threat, BetaNews reported.

"We're joining Cloudflare to make the Workers programming model a mainstream way to build servers," Dahl said. "By bringing celld and workerd together, we want it to be radically easy to build and operate distributed applications."

Workerd is the open-source engine that runs Cloudflare Workers.

For developers, the deal could mean tools that work more smoothly together. Some may worry about what happens to Deno's independent projects. Cloudflare did not say whether Deno's runtime will remain a separate product.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cloudflare runs one of the world's largest networks and helps protect and speed up millions of websites. It has been adding more tools for developers to compete with cloud giants like Amazon and Microsoft.

What we know: Cloudflare is buying Deno to improve its Workers platform.
What we don't: The deal's terms and whether Deno's runtime will stay a separate product.