title: What exactly is a Node.js event loop tick?
body: <p>I've been getting more into the internals of the Node.js architecture, and a term I see coming up a lot is "tick" as in "next tick of the event loop" or the function <a href="http://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/process.html#process_process_nexttick_callback" rel="noreferrer">nextTick()</a>.</p>
  
  <p>What I haven't seen is a solid definition of what exactly a "tick" is. Based on various articles (<a href="http://howtonode.org/understanding-process-next-tick" rel="noreferrer">such as this one</a>), I've been able to piece a concept together in my head, but I'm not sure how accurate it is.</p>
  
  <p>Can I get a precise and detailed description of a Node.js event loop tick?</p>