Getting Started with NestJS: A Node.js Framework for Building Scalable Applications

Finding the right technology stack to develop an application with high scalability and maintainability isn't an easy task. Node.js is an obvious choice when it comes to building large web services, but its lack of structure, strong conventions, and compatibility limits scalability. This is where NestJS comes in with its unique features and capabilities. NestJS is a Node.js framework for building effective, reliable, and scalable server-side applications.

Let's dive into the features of NestJS and see why it has become the go-to Node.js framework for building scalable web applications.

What is NestJS?

NestJS is a Node.js framework that focuses on efficient and manageable, yet highly scalable, server-side applications. It provides a strongly-typed, object-oriented Programming language like that of JavaScript. It has a syntax similar to the language, making the transition easier for new developers.

NestJS follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern, thus dividing the application into three layers: business logic, presentation layer, and data access layer. This structure helps developers develop applications with great maintainability and scalability.

NestJS contains a powerful CLI (command line interface), making it easy to develop and maintain applications. It includes features like Express integration, middleware, guards, decorators, validation, custom modules and interceptors, typeorm, web-sockets and GraphQL APIs, HTTP clients, and more.

Why Choose NestJS?

NestJS can be used in a variety of contexts, and it has been proven to be an ideal choice for server-side applications. Let’s take a look at some of the major benefits of NestJS:

Stability & Scalability

The MVC architecture helps developers write code in a way that is easily scalable. Each layer of the application is separate and only interacts with the components in that layer, making for extremely stable and reliable apps.

Guards & Interceptors

NestJS includes support for middleware, guards, and interceptors, which add an extra layer of security to the application and can help protect against internal and external attacks.

Powerful Benefits

NestJS offers a ton of benefits over other frameworks. It's easy to use and learn, requires minimal configuration and is highly extensible, while also offering great documentation and support. It has an intuitive CLI interface and a lot of built-in features.

Great Performance

NestJS offers great performance and is based on JavaScript, which is the most widely used language in the world, meaning that developers can quickly build reliable and scalable applications with NestJS.

How to Get Started with NestJS

Getting started with NestJS is really simple. It's as easy as running a few simple commands in the terminal.

To install NestJS, first, run npm install -g @nestjs/cli to install the NestJS CLI. Once the CLI is installed, you can use it to create an application starter. To do this, run nest new project-name and the NestJS application starter will be created.

Once you’ve created the project, you can start developing the API with NestJS. To do this, create a new file, such as main.ts inside the src/ directory. This will be the entry point for the API and it’s where you will write the business logic for your application.

Creating APIs with NestJS is really easy. All you need to do is create a controller and define the routes. For example, a simple email API might look something like this:

@Controller('/emails')
export class EmailController {
  @Post('/')
  getEmails(@Body() data: EmailData): Promise<Email[]> {
    // your code here
  }
}

You can then run the application with npm run start and your API will be up and running in no time.

Conclusion

NestJS is an excellent choice for developers looking to create scalable, maintainable, and reliable server-side applications. With its efficient and extensible CLI, it makes it really easy to develop and maintain applications. We hope this primer will help you get started with NestJS and build great server-side applications quickly and easily.

Are youready to take on the awesomeness of NestJS? Try it out and let us know how it goes!

Happy coding!