As a Node.js developer who has tried every Node framework under the sun, here’s why I believe NestJS must be the new gold standard for Node.js backend development. At first, the framework seemed like too much—the learning curve was steep, and I found it hard to understand coming from Express. Why all this complexity? But with time, I came to admire every aspect of this framework.
1. Why OOP is the Best for Backend Development
Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is not just a paradigm; it's a methodology that addresses the core challenges of backend development. At its heart, OOP allows you to model real-world problems in a way that makes systems easier to design, implement, and maintain. NestJS utilizes OOP through its class-based approach, enabling you to organize logic into cohesive, reusable components.
For instance, consider the concept of services in NestJS. A service class encapsulates business logic, promoting separation of concerns. This encapsulation not only makes your codebase easier to navigate but also simplifies testing. Using decorators like @Injectable()
, NestJS takes dependency injection a step further, allowing seamless integration of service dependencies without manual wiring.
Code Example
import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
@Injectable()
export class UserService {
private users = [];
createUser(name: string) {
const user = { id: Date.now(), name };
this.users.push(user);
return user;
}
getUsers() {
return this.users;
}
}
Moreover, inheritance in OOP allows developers to extend and reuse functionality without duplicating code. Polymorphism, another cornerstone of OOP, lets you define common interfaces for varying implementations. In a NestJS context, this could be seen in abstract classes for database repositories, where specific implementations handle details for MongoDB, PostgreSQL, or other data stores.
So as your codebase grows larger, you can maintain a well-structured codebase within every module.
2. NestJS is Future-Proof
NestJS positions itself as a framework built to withstand the test of time. Its adoption of TypeScript ensures that your code is reliable and maintainable.
NestJS also uses decorators extensively, aligning with modern JavaScript standards such as ES6+ and ECMAScript proposals. These decorators, like @Controller()
, @Get()
, and @Post()
, provide declarative syntax that makes code intuitive and reduces boilerplate.
Code Example
import { Controller, Get } from '@nestjs/common';
@Controller('users')
export class UserController {
@Get()
findAll() {
return 'This action returns all users';
}
}
3. Ideal for Microservices and Enterprise Applications
NestJS shines in environments where modularity and scalability are non-negotiable. For microservices, NestJS provides native support for distributed systems using patterns like message brokers and event-driven communication. The framework includes modules for integration with RabbitMQ, Kafka, and Redis, making it easy to design resilient and decoupled systems.
Code Example
import { Controller } from '@nestjs/common';
import { MessagePattern } from '@nestjs/microservices';
@Controller()
export class AppController {
@MessagePattern('notifications')
handleNotification(data: any) {
console.log('Received notification:', data);
}
}
For enterprise-grade applications, NestJS's modular architecture allows teams to work on isolated modules without stepping on each other’s toes. Features like DynamicModule
allow you to configure modules dynamically, simplifying the management of multi-tenant systems or applications with environment-specific configurations.
4. Built-in Support for Everything
NestJS eliminates the need for cobbling together third-party libraries by offering built-in support for a wide array of features. Need WebSocket support for real-time applications? NestJS provides an out-of-the-box module for that. Building a GraphQL API? NestJS's GraphQL module integrates seamlessly with decorators for schema-first or code-first approaches.
Code Example
Integrating JWT authentication using Passport.js:
import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
import { PassportStrategy } from '@nestjs/passport';
import { Strategy, ExtractJwt } from 'passport-jwt';
@Injectable()
export class JwtStrategy extends PassportStrategy(Strategy) {
constructor() {
super({
jwtFromRequest: ExtractJwt.fromAuthHeaderAsBearerToken(),
secretOrKey: 'secretKey',
});
}
validate(payload: any) {
return { userId: payload.sub, username: payload.username };
}
}
For authentication, the @nestjs/passport
library integrates Passport.js directly into your project, providing strategies for OAuth, JWT, and local authentication. NestJS also simplifies database interaction with its @nestjs/typeorm
and @nestjs/mongoose
modules, providing tight integration with popular ORMs like TypeORM and Mongoose.
This all-inclusive approach reduces decision fatigue and ensures consistency across your application, allowing you to focus on solving business problems rather than configuring your stack.
5. Modular Architecture That Scales
NestJS’s modular system is a game-changer for large-scale applications. By encapsulating features into dedicated modules, it allows developers to maintain clean boundaries between different parts of the application. Each module in NestJS acts as a self-contained unit, bundling together controllers, services, and other components.
Code Example
Creating a user module:
import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { UserController } from './user.controller';
import { UserService } from './user.service';
@Module({
controllers: [UserController],
providers: [UserService],
})
export class UserModule {}
The modular design allows you to separate concerns and easily scale your application by adding new modules.
NestJS also supports lazy loading of modules, a crucial feature for microservices or applications with large, complex dependencies. This ensures that your application starts faster and consumes fewer resources.
6. Very Hard to Mess Up in NestJS
NestJS offers guardrails that make it difficult to write bad code. Its opinionated structure enforces best practices, such as the separation of concerns, dependency injection, and modular design. The framework's CLI (@nestjs/cli
) helps scaffold components with a consistent folder structure, eliminating the guesswork in organizing your codebase.
Code Example
Using guards for role-based access control:
import { Injectable, CanActivate, ExecutionContext } from '@nestjs/common';
@Injectable()
export class RolesGuard implements CanActivate {
canActivate(context: ExecutionContext): boolean {
const request = context.switchToHttp().getRequest();
const user = request.user;
return user && user.roles.includes('admin');
}
}
Additionally, NestJS makes full use of TypeScript to catch errors during development, reducing runtime bugs. Features like guards (@CanActivate
), interceptors (@Interceptor()
), and pipes (@PipeTransform
) provide clear patterns for handling concerns like validation, transformation, and access control. This layered approach ensures that even junior developers can contribute effectively while adhering to established conventions.
Even error handling is simplified. By extending the built-in HttpException
, you can create custom exceptions with ease, ensuring your APIs remain consistent and predictable. NestJS takes care of the rest, including sending the appropriate HTTP response codes and error messages.
Final Thoughts
NestJS isn’t just another Node.js framework; it’s a paradigm shift in backend development. It’s an ideal choice, offering everything you need to succeed. From my experience, I believe this framework strikes the perfect balance between rapid delivery and long-term maintainability. It represents the ultimate evolution of Node.js backend development, setting a new standard for scalability and efficiency.
For more in-depth insights, check out the book Scalable Application Development with NestJS, available here.
Top comments (38)
Oooh... Someone's smitten!
Great article. As you said, NestJS can be overwhelming for beginners, like I was and I have never dared to go back (because I got caught in other things). This article makes me want to revisit Nest.
While interesting, I kind of like the freedom I get with Express. I might consider Nest for some projects but for smaller ones I'd prefer to stick with Express, or even Encore if I can.
Apples to oranges comparison. Express is a bare bones library that can define a collection of HTTP responders. Nest is a web framework in the mould of Laravel offering a smorgasbord of sane defaults out of the box with model/controller paradigms and dependency injection that runs on express
My point is that Express alone isn’t enough. It lacks the structure and built-in features that frameworks like NestJS offer, making it harder to scale and maintain
Express is old. Use Hono
When does being old means unusable? Java is old, Python is old, C ++/C is old and still in use today.
Which of them? Can you list? Have you tried Ditsmod?
I've used all the popular ones in small-to-medium projects like Express, Hono, Elysia, Fastify, and briefly tried others like Oak and Restify, but didn’t dive deep into them. Ditsmod seems similar to NestJS but honestly doesn’t feel mature enough for real projects yet.
Through Google Analytics, I see that you from Tunisia only visited the intro page, which only describes the most generalized features of Ditsmod. And based on this, you concluded that Ditsmod "doesn't feel mature enough for real projects yet"? In my opinion, there is too little analysis for such a conclusion.
Fair enough, I haven't explored Ditsmod fully yet, my judgment was mainly based on the GitHub stars (90). What I meant is that it might need more time before it's trusted for production use. Still, it looks promising and seems to have everything I like about NestJS. I’ll definitely keep it on my radar for future projects.
Definitely my favorite for building a headless CMS. It took some getting used to since I had never worded with angler before. But it's just typescript so I got it figured out. Been using it for over 2 years now. One of my e-commerce APIs has been running smoothly without resetting for quit a while. Also, I just thought I'd let you know I saw the link to this article in Google news feed. Good job getting it there. 👏
I tried to use it some time before (i had a test exercise when i was applying to a job). Tbh, I think it's too complicated.
Nest makes you write in it's own paradigm. In the paradigm, which Nest counts as the right one. That's why it is too complicated. You need some time to catch that "Nest" vibe. And I've made that test exercise, but I couldn't catch it. Maybe after some time I would return to it
I've struggled with nestjs for quite long time, I got few projects built on it working fine.
But I agree, it's boilerplate is overwhelming, modules system is complicated and hard to understand.
Considering above, try moost (moostjs), it was inspired by nestjs, but it's got better DX imho. Its decorators and event context system is much straight-forward and it's pretty well documented.
Good article, however, I don’t believe in enterprise-level backend written in js/ts
Why? I've got a project completely on nodejs (ts, nestjs) running for over 5 years serving over 200 partners (over 1k users) and delivering customers leads in volume of 5-10k a month with revenue a little less than $1m a year. Is it enterprise enough?
Regarding nestjs itself, it works fine, but it has an overwhelming boilerplate. There's a lighter alternative that has all the pros of nestjs and gives much cleaner DX. It's called moostjs in case of anyone is interested.
We have over 70 GraphQL subgraphs written in TS and a GraphQL gateway, also written in TS, that rivals traffic of the largest Internet platforms. TS/JS is very capable of enterprise-level solutions.
Owo great article. Awesome overview
I have used both express and nest but I feel for begineer should go with express.
The other concepts guard can activate which nest using can be easily done in other frameworks also reusability is not a big thing as we import it and reuse if required.nest js could be better for Angular js developers looking at syntax injectors.
Seems like an article that's meant to stir the pot!
Nanny frameworks like laravel, Django, and rails have their value and their place. Personally I prefer that place to be far from my own development efforts though I definitely recommend them under the right circumstances.
And I have to agree with all the OO haters here. A framework implemented like that is going to be full of abstractions that require lots of effort to master.
I guess node land needs Nanny framework 2!
nope, not enterprise level.
startup level at best.
enterprise level rarely use js other than frontend.
for enterprise grade you might consider java or go
I used to think just like you. Then in 2016, I switch to node.js after 20 years of Java, and then Nest.
And now we are scaling big with Nest, doing absolutely everything a Java stack would do.
I still like Java, and I wish everyone could go out of the mainstream "my Java is better than your node.js" idea. This is such an outdated debate.
well its not about which is better than which. but in my experience enterprise stuff need a lot of third party lib/service. mostly security, monitoring and reliability. not to mention lots of their client already using java/kotlin. so for the perspective of corporate mgmt using java have a lot of benefits. and almost all the downside of java can be solved by throwing money at it. so yeah. i might be little biased. but thats my experience
I agree with this coming from Scala background.
The fact that Java still needs so much hand holding from large IDEs is such a huge turn off
Python......😆
Nice effort. But when it comes to choosing between OOP and functional programming many experts choose functional programming than OOPS. I too don't like inheritance complexity in OOP and its workarounds like mixins, class composition and other patch works. For freshers I guess functional programming will be easier to understand because they only need to understand declarative paradigm first and others thing are easy to grasp. Pipe operater reduces assignment operator effort. For freshers I advice to learn Elixir (Phoenix framework) or Gleam (Wisp) or JavaScript (using functional programming rules). Please build some projects based on this for your portfolios, some companies looking for performance based backend apps will surely hire you.