Powering Your App with NestJs, a Lightweight NodeJS Framework?

Are you tired of managing a large-scale application and failing miserably due to the disorganized structure and lack of code organization? Without a well-planned structure and a strict code organization strategy, you’re setting yourself up for a disaster during maintenance.

Enter NestJs, the lightweight framework designed to rescue developers from the perils of chaos. Since it was introduced in 2018, it has gained immense popularity real quick.

NestJs combines the best of modern and modular approaches to software engineering, providing a seamless experience that will transform the way you build applications. With TypeScript as its trusty sidekick, NestJs ensures rock-solid type checking, empowering you to catch errors before they wreak havoc.

It delivers an out-of-the-box software architecture that makes building and deploying applications a breeze. It’s like having a blueprint for success, allowing you to create testable, scalable, loosely coupled, and easily maintainable applications without sweat.

In this fascinating article, we’ll take you on a thrilling adventure through the world of NestJs. Together, we’ll explore its endless possibilities and unveil the secrets of its success. We’ll dive deep into the pros and cons of this remarkable framework, giving you a crystal-clear understanding of why companies are embracing NestJs over other Node.js frameworks.

What is NestJs?

NestJs is a powerful, open-source web application framework for building efficient and scalable server-side applications using Node.js. It is designed to provide developers with a solid architectural foundation and an intuitive development experience. NestJs leverages the capabilities of TypeScript, a statically typed superset of JavaScript, to enable robust type-checking and enhanced tooling support.

At its core, NestJs embraces the concept of modular architecture, enabling developers to structure their applications into reusable and loosely coupled modules. This modular approach promotes code organization, maintainability, and testability. NestJs also incorporates key principles from various software engineering paradigms, such as object-oriented programming (OOP), functional programming (FP), and aspect-oriented programming (AOP).

With NestJs, developers can benefit from a thriving community that actively contributes to the framework’s growth and shares valuable insights and best practices. Let’s explore a wide range of NestJs features together.

Key Features of NestJs

NestJs offers a rich set of features that make it a powerful framework for building server-side applications. Here are some key features of NestJs.

• Modularity- NestJs promotes a modular architecture, allowing developers to organize their codebase into reusable and self-contained modules. This modular approach enhances maintainability, scalability, and code reusability.

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• Dependency Injection Container- NestJs provides a built-in dependency injection (DI) system, which simplifies the management and injection of dependencies. Dependency Injection is a technique used in software development. It follows a principle called Inversion of Control (IoC) that promotes loose coupling between classes. This means that each class should only focus on its main tasks and not worry about creating other classes it depends on.

To understand this concept, imagine hiring a maid to take care of all your household chores while you focus on your main work. Similarly, with Dependency Injection, an IoC container takes care of creating and providing instances of classes wherever they are needed. This means you don’t have to create objects and pass them around manually. Instead, you can concentrate on writing the essential parts of your application.

Reusing higher-level modules dependent on the lower levels is complex.

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Thus, dependency modules are required.

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• TypeScript Support- NestJs is built with TypeScript, a statically-typed superset of JavaScript. This enables developers to leverage the benefits of static typing, including enhanced code reliability, autocompletion, and refactoring tools.
• Decorators- NestJs leverages decorators to define routes, middleware, and other aspects of application behavior. Decorators provide a clean and intuitive syntax for configuring endpoints and handling requests.
• NestJs CLI

Nest.js is a popular framework for building scalable and efficient server-side applications with Node.js. It provides a powerful set of tools and features to streamline the development process. The Nest.js CLI (Command Line Interface) is a command-line tool that assists in creating and managing Nest.js applications. To use the Nest.js CLI, you need to have Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) installed on your system.

• Middleware

Middleware is a special layer of code that runs before the main route handler in an application’s request-response cycle. It allows us to work with the request object (req), the response object (res), and a function called next. In NestJS, the middleware functions are similar to those used in Express.

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By using middleware, we can accomplish several things.

• Execute custom code during the request-response cycle.
• Modify the request and response objects according to our needs.
• Terminate the request-response cycle if required.
• Call the next middleware in the stack to pass control to subsequent handlers.

Below are the elements of the middleware function call.

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To create custom middleware in NestJS, we have the flexibility to implement it as a function or a class decorated with @Injectable(). In the case of a class implementation, we can inherit from the NestMiddleware interface, but it is not mandatory.

Similar to Express middleware, NestJS middleware allows us to execute and manipulate code between the request and response handlers. This provides opportunities for various tasks such as logging audit information, managing tenant-based database connections in multi-tenant architectures and SaaS applications, implementing REST API security measures, handling errors, and guarding specific routes, among others.

Nestjs Middleware Architecture

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• Testing Utilities

NestJs includes built-in testing utilities that facilitate unit testing and end-to-end testing. These utilities help ensure the reliability and stability of applications by automating the testing process.

• Database Agnostic

Nest offers great flexibility when it comes to database integration, allowing you to seamlessly connect with any SQL or NoSQL database of your choice. Depending on your preferences, there are multiple options available to you. Connecting Nest to a database is as simple as loading the appropriate Node.js driver, similar to how you would do it with Express or Fastify.

You also have the freedom to use general-purpose Node.js database integration libraries or ORMs such as MikroORM, Sequelize, Knex.js, TypeORM, and Prisma, which operate at a higher level of abstraction.

To further simplify the process, Nest provides seamless integration with popular libraries like TypeORM, Sequelize, and Mongoose through dedicated packages like @nestjs/typeorm, @nestjs/sequelize, and @nestjs/mongoose. These integrations offer additional NestJS-specific features, including model/repository injection, testability, and asynchronous configuration, making it even easier to work with your chosen database.

These are just some of the many features that make NestJs a powerful framework for building server-side applications. It combines the benefits of TypeScript, modularity, dependency injection, and a rich ecosystem to simplify development and deliver high-quality applications.

How NestJs is different from other Frameworks?

NestJs stands out from other frameworks due to its unique combination of features and design principles. Here are some ways in which NestJs differentiates itself from other frameworks.

• Architecture

NestJs promotes a modular architecture that encourages code organization and reusability. It provides a clear separation of concerns, making it easier to maintain and scale applications.

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Key Components of NestJs

• Controllers act as a connection between client requests and responses. Whenever an HTTP request is made, the routing mechanism directs it to the appropriate controller. To create controllers, decorators, and classes are used, and each method within a class is associated with a specific route to handle a particular request.

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• Providers are the building blocks of NestJS and play a fundamental role. They are injected as dependencies and establish relationships between different objects. In NestJS, classes like helpers, services, or repositories can be treated as providers by adding the @Injectable() decorator. These providers can be injected into other classes through the constructor, and NestJS automatically manages the dependencies.

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• Modules in NestJS bring together a closely related set of functionalities. Every NestJS application has a root module that serves as the starting point. Using multiple modules is highly recommended for better organization and readability of code. The @Module() decorator in NestJS defines a module and provides information about its dependencies, controllers, and providers.

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• Multi-Paradigm Approach

NestJs incorporates concepts from multiple programming paradigms, including object-oriented programming (OOP), functional programming (FP), and aspect-oriented programming (AOP). This versatility allows developers to choose the most appropriate paradigm for different parts of their application.

• Strong Community and Ecosystem

NestJs has a rapidly growing and vibrant community of developers, contributing to the framework’s development and providing a wealth of resources, plugins, and modules. The ecosystem around NestJs is continuously expanding, enabling developers to leverage existing solutions and share knowledge.

• Performance and Scalability

NestJs is designed to deliver high performance and scalability. It offers optimized routing mechanisms, caching options, and various performance optimization techniques that contribute to the overall efficiency of applications.

Key Difference: NestJs vs. Next.js

Choosing between NestJs and Next.js ultimately depends on your project requirements. If you’re primarily working on the backend, building APIs, and require a strong architectural foundation with dependency injection, NestJs would be a preferred choice. However, if your focus is on frontend development, building server-rendered React applications with data fetching and client-side routing, Next.js would be a more suitable option.

Key Difference: NestJs vs. ExpressJs

Nest.js offers a more opinionated and structured approach with built-in support for architecture, dependency injection, and testing utilities. It is well-suited for larger and more scalable applications.

On the other hand, Express.js is a minimalistic and flexible framework, popular for its simplicity and ease of use, making it suitable for smaller projects or when more control is desired. The choice between Nest.js and Express.js depends on the specific needs, preferences, and familiarity with TypeScript and server-side frameworks.

Advantages of NestJs

Below is the list of benefits of using NestJs.

• Easy to Use- NestJs is designed to be user-friendly, allowing developers to easily utilize even its most powerful features. The framework enables developers to focus on writing business logic while taking care of other important aspects, like security, behind the scenes.
• Angular-like Syntax- NestJs adopts a similar style and syntax to Angular, a popular frontend framework known for its emphasis on architecture and structure. This similarity makes it easier to structure enterprise projects and leverage familiarity with Angular’s concepts.
• TypeScript Support- NestJs provides built-in support for TypeScript, a language that enhances performance and facilitates the creation of maintainable applications. TypeScript integration also improves the development experience in tools like VSCode, providing helpful compile errors and warnings.
• Comprehensive Documentation- NestJs offers highly comprehensive and easy-to-understand documentation. This documentation serves as a valuable resource, allowing developers to quickly find solutions to their problems and minimize debugging time.
• Strong Architecture and Rapid Development- With NestJs, developers can save time during application development. The framework provides a solid structure and architecture right from the start, whether it’s for building an initial MVP or a full-fledged application. This enhances development processes and enables faster progress.

Limitations of NestJs

Despite benefits, NestJs comes with some limitations that you must consider.

• Learning Curve- As a comprehensive framework, NestJs has a learning curve, especially for developers who are new to TypeScript or server-side frameworks. It may take some time to grasp the concepts and best practices of NestJs.
• Performance Overhead- Due to the layered architecture and extensive features, NestJs may have a slightly higher performance overhead compared to minimalistic frameworks. However, the impact on performance can be mitigated by optimizing the application and using caching techniques when necessary.
• Limited Community and Ecosystem- Although NestJs has gained popularity, its community and ecosystem are still growing compared to more established frameworks like Express.js. This means that finding specific libraries or solutions for niche use cases might require more effort.
• Boilerplate Code- NestJs encourages a structured approach to development, which can lead to more initial setup and boilerplate code compared to lightweight frameworks. However, this trade-off often pays off in the long run by making the codebase more maintainable and scalable.

Get started with NestJs

To get started with Nest.js, you can follow these steps.

Step 1: Install Node.js

Ensure that Node.js is installed on your system. You can download the latest version from the official Node.js website (https://nodejs.org) and follow the installation instructions.

Step 2: Create a new Nest.js project

Open your terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory where you want to create your Nest.js project. Then, run the following command to create a new Nest.js project.

npx @nestjs/cli new nest-project

This command will create a new directory named “nest-project” with the basic project structure and dependencies set up for you.

Step 3: Explore the project structure

Once the project is created, navigate into the project directory.

cd nest-project

You will find a predefined project structure with files like src, main.ts, and app.module.ts. These files are essential for setting up your Nest.js application.

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Step 4: Create a controller

Controllers handle incoming requests and generate responses. To create a new controller, run the following command.

nest generate controller cats

This will generate a cats.controller.ts file inside the src folder, along with a corresponding spec file for testing.

Step 5: Define routes and handlers

Open the cats.controller.ts file and define routes and route handlers using decorators. Here’s an example.

import { Controller, Get } from ‘@nestjs/common’;

@Controller(‘cats’)

export class CatsController {

@Get()

findAll(): string {

return ‘This action returns all cats’;

}

}

In this example, we define a route with the @Get() decorator and the corresponding findAll() method that returns a string response.

Step 6: Start the application

To start the Nest.js application, run the following command.

npm run start

This will compile the TypeScript code and start the server at the default port (usually 3000). You can access the defined route by visiting http://localhost:3000/cats in your browser.

Congratulations! You have successfully created a basic Nest.js application and defined a simple route.

Create next-gen NestJs Apps with OnGraph

With OnGraph, creating next-generation Nest.js applications becomes a seamless experience. OnGraph offers a range of cutting-edge tools, technologies, and expertise to empower developers in building scalable and efficient applications.

With the power of Nest.js and the support of OnGraph, developers can unleash their creativity and deliver high-quality, modern applications that meet the demands of the ever-evolving tech landscape. Experience the future of application development with OnGraph and Nest.js.

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