NestJS vs ExpressJS: How to Choose the Right Framework?

Quick Summary: This blog provides a complete comparison of ExpressJS vs NestJS to help you find the best option to develop your web app. Read the entire blog to get a proper understanding of both the frameworks and choose the best one.

When it comes to creating large-scale web apps, developers more confidently choose Node.js as their backend technology today. Why so? NodeJS is event-driven and asynchronously executes tasks that allow it to handle multiple connections at a time. Therefore, developers use it to develop high-performance and scalable web apps. It is quite popular, and more than 6.3 million websites use Node.js as per stats.

Although NodeJS is a powerful server-side technology, it requires additional support to handle requests, serve files, and perform HTTP functions. There are many web frameworks that can be used with this JavaScript runtime environment, including Express.js and Nest.js. For CTOs and developers looking for a good Node JS framework, the dilemma of Nest JS vs Express JS poses a challenge.

Both Nest.js and Express.js offer tremendous advantages in web development. But should you choose NestJS or ExpressJS is a hard-to-solve puzzle without enough knowledge and facts. Hence, this blog will shed light on these two web frameworks to make an informed decision. With the key information here, you can decide whether you have to choose ExpressJS development or NestJS development to build your application.

Let’s find out the answer to this question with an understanding of these frameworks and a comparison between them.

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An Overview of ExpressJS and NestJS

Let’s start with a brief introduction of Express and NestJS web frameworks.

ExpressJS

Express.js is a web framework that is minimalist and fast. It is the default framework for Node.js that is used to build a myriad of web applications and web APIs. Express.js is bundled with Node for popular web development tech stacks like MEAN, MERN, and MEVN. In all these stacks, Express is an important component to build fast and scalable web solutions.

Companies using ExpressJS

• IBM
• Yandex
• Uber
• MuleSoft
• Accenture

The following image shows the position of Express.js in the developer survey 2023 by StackOverflow.

NestJS

Nest.js is also a web framework for NodeJS development that allows developers to create efficient and scalable server-side web apps. It uses a strongly typed programming language based on JavaScript which is TypeScript. TypeScript can capture mistakes/errors in the code editor, unlike JavaScript which throws errors at runtime. Nest utilizes the Express behind the scenes. So, the foundations of this framework are built on Express.

Companies using NestJS

• Gitlab
• Autodesk
• BMW
• Adidas
• ByteDance

You can see where NestJS stands in the developer survey 2023 by StackOverflow.

Why Choose Express.js?

Express JS is not just lightweight, but it also offers many other advantages that make it the go-to choice for web application development projects. The following reasons show its significance.

Easy Routing

Express.js provides a simple and efficient routing mechanism that processes HTTP requests and defines paths for your API or web application. These paths define the actions that need to be taken for a specific HTTP request.

Routing is an essential part of your application that provides the right resources to the client matching a user’s request. With the Express.js framework, routing is managed more accurately, and it allows developers to create custom routes and parameters.

Middleware

As Express.js is a minimalist framework, it requires another step to load more features into the framework. However, it’s easy to enhance the functionality of your Express.js app by adding middleware components. The middleware functions can handle request and response objects, call the next() middleware function, execute code, and do other jobs.

Developers can use the following types of middleware:

• Error-handling middleware
• Third-party middleware
• Router-level middleware
• Application-level middleware
• Built-in middleware

Middleware functions take “next” function parameter apart from request and response object parameters. The following code template shows an application-level middleware

Performance

Express.js perfectly aligns with Node.js without obstructing its rudimentary features that enable developers to leverage both the technologies with full strength. Hence, developers are able to build the best-performing web apps with Express and Node bonhomie.

Flexibility

It is a flexible web framework and encourages easy modifications. So, it is easy to add more functionalities when the need arises, making it viable for a wide range of web development solutions. Be it a simple or complex web solution, Express has you covered for every need.

Simplicity

One of the important attributes of Express.js is simplicity due to the fact that it is a minimalist framework. Hence, it can easily be implemented in web development projects because it is quick to set up with minimal configuration.

Rich Ecosystem

ExpressJS is rich in a wide range of essential functionality for developing web solutions. It encompasses different template engines, middleware, debugging, and more.

Why Choose NestJS?

Apart from providing a robust foundation for developing scalable apps and promoting a modular code structure, NestJS comes with multiple advantages, including:

Modules

NestJS applications are built with modules. When you create a new application, the AppModule is included automatically. Different features of your application are grouped into modules to arrange the components of your application. Hence, in NestJS development, a clear separation of concerns is used.

Strict Authentication

RestJS offers stricter application authentication and system authorization because it doesn’t rely on middleware. This framework offers the Guards feature that allows access to routes based on authorization and authentication methods like ACL (Access Control Lists), permissions, roles, etc.

Easy Testing

The module-centric structure of Nest.js makes it easy to test the applications. As a matter of fact, it is easy to create separate automated tests for various modules of the application that can test the different aspects or features. It comes with Jest, which is a popular unit-testing framework for JavaScript applications.

TypeScript

TypeScript is the foundation for NestJS that allows developers to build quality applications by avoiding errors early in the coding process. Developers leverage features of TypeScript like IntelliSense, editor support, and type safety that solve the pain of catching errors at the time of writing code instead of during the compilation.

Integration with Technologies

No matter if you want to connect with a database or a GraphQL API, Nest JS is at your disposal for all these facilities. Indeed, Nest.js integrates well with other technologies, providing you a convenient way to connect databases or APIs.

Fast Development

It provides a good structure with modules that help developers build applications quickly and easily. Hence, development is fast whether you want to build an MVP or a real app.

Let’s explore the differences between NestJS and ExpressJS to determine which one is more suitable for your web development project.

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ExpressJS vs NestJS: Which One to Choose?

Below comparison of Nest vs ExpressJS based on different parameters will help you make the right decision.

NestJS vs ExpressJS: Security

Security is one of the most important aspects of any software. It is even more critical in today’s world as cyber-attacks are rampant. Hence, you need the best technologies and frameworks to meet the hardest security challenges. Luckily, when comparing NestJS vs ExpressJS on the security front, both of these frameworks have sufficient built-in features to guard against various vulnerabilities and threats.

However, Express JS relies on middleware for security. But the middleware doesn’t know which handler to execute once the call to the next() function is finished. NestJS provides Guards that know which handler to execute because they have the context object of the route.

As a result, the routes are protected from unauthorized access, and unlike Express middleware, they know what to execute next. Hence, Nest.js provides greater control over user authentication and authorization that thwarts compromised access to the system, providing another layer of security.

Express provides various ways via middleware to protect software solutions from vulnerabilities such as XSS and SQL injection. Express.js works with Sequelize ORM to prevent SQL injection attacks by escaping user input. So, both Express and NestJS offer excellent features for application security, though NestJS has more built-in features.

NestJS vs ExpressJS: Programming Language

Express JS is implemented in JavaScript, which is one of the most popular programming languages today. It is used in both front-end and back-end.

As you can see in the below image, JavaScript is one of the predominant programming languages based on the developer survey 2023 by StackOverflow.

NestJS is based on the TypeScript programming language which is created upon JavaScript. Although JavaScript is an excellent programming language, it is not fully object oriented. Actually, JavaScript is a prototype-based object-oriented language that uses inheritance by reusing existing objects without defining any class.

Nest.js leverages the full potential of object-oriented programming with TypeScript, which reduces the complexity and size of the code. Since TypeScript ensures type safety and errors can be caught before compilation, Nest.js applications are more reliable and less error-prone.

ExpressJS vs NestJS: Performance

Express.js is built on a lightweight structure, making it an efficient and fast framework for developing applications. Plus, it can effectively leverage NodeJS features, including the asynchronous feature of its event loop that can handle huge traffic concurrently. Hence, Express allows developers to create high-performance applications by utilizing the JavaScript runtime environment optimally.

Nest.js utilizes frameworks like Express.js by default under the hood and developers can also use Fastify with it to get improved performance of their applications.

ExpressJS vs NestJS: Structure and Architecture

Another major difference between Nest JS and Express JS is whether they adhere to a design pattern or not. Developers get complete flexibility with Express as it doesn’t force any structure or architecture for developing applications. As a result, developers are free to use the style of programming they like for their applications.

However, this creates a problem with the increasing application complexity or team size. So, in that situation, handling the project will be a tough job due to the absence of a logical structure between various components. Making changes will also be very hard.

Nest.js enables developers to create applications based on the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture. So, there is a distinct separation of components that are controllers, providers, and modules. This separation removes complexity and makes it easy to modify or maintain the code.

NestJS vs ExpressJS: Testing Process

This is also a key factor in the Express vs NestJS comparison. Unit testing is streamlined in Express.js coding with various testing frameworks like Mocha, Jest, and Jasmine. These frameworks make testing seamless, and developers can conveniently run automated tests to track bugs and errors.

Nest.js provides more robust testing with default features and testing environments. It can be integrated with Jest, Supertest, and other testing tools to perform testing. Nest provides default test runners and supports unit testing for components. Developers can also perform end-to-end (e2e) tests on applications.

ExpressJS vs NestJS: Unopinionated

When a software development framework is opinionated, it compels developers to work in its own way. In other words, developers have limited choices on how they can design and develop a software solution and rely much on the functionality or features of the framework.

Express.js is an unopinionated web framework that doesn’t lock developers in a particular development style. Therefore, there is an absence of strictly defined rules for development with Express.js. However, Nest.js is opinionated, making developers follow specific rules that reduce the flexibility for developers.

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In ConclusionThis blog has covered all the aspects of Express and Nest, including their benefits, top companies using them, and full comparison. So, this information would be helpful for you to draw a conclusion and decide the most appropriate Node framework for your application.If you are looking to develop a web application for your business with either Nest or ExpressJS or you need consultation to choose the right framework based on your project, you can count on Radixweb. We are not just a leading software development company, but also a technical consultant for businesses, CTOs, CIOs, and business leaders.We help our clients at every level and guide them to build solutions that help them achieve their vision with technology. Just contact us without hesitation and let us be your helping hand towards digital success.