5 Popular Node.js Frameworks for Web App Development in 2021
By: Amy J. Andrews
Tags: Web Development, Web App Development, JavaScript, Programming, Web Framework

5 Popular Node.js Frameworks for Web App Development in 2021

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Over the past few years, the use of web applications has rapidly increased. And there’s an essential need for powerful web frameworks to adapt to this growth.

Talking about web frameworks, we can’t help but mention Node.js frameworks. They are best known for building lightweight and efficient web applications. And one of the main advantages of Node.js is that it allows you to use JavaScript on both client side and server side.

If you need a fast and scalable web framework, consider the list below.

When talking about rapid software development, we’d better mention Meteor. It’s a game-changing framework that allows you to build professional products faster.

Meteor uses JavaScript on both front-end and back-end. It’s packed with smart packages and a great choice if you want to build an MVP quickly. In fact, you can launch an MVP with a month with Meteor.

More and more real-time tools appear to support online collaboration. I can see the future of that kind of tool. And you know what? That’s is what Meteor offers. It’s so perfect for you to build real-time applications.

If you don’t have much time and don’t want to learn a huge framework, picking Meteor for your project is a smart solution. Because Meteor is easy to learn even it’s a full stack framework. Plus, you will get an active and supportive community when you face any problem.

Express is a great Node.js web app framework. Like its official website, expressjs.com, said:

Express is a fast, unopinionated minimalist web framework for Node.js

With pure Node.js, you can still build a professional web application. However, you have to do a lot of work if using only Node.js. Building a web doesn’t necessarily that hard. That’s why you should use Express to make your development fast and easy.

Express provides some great features that wouldn’t make you disappointed.

Like other web app frameworks, it allows you to defines routes based on HTTP methods. The configuration is simple and you can customize it based on your needs.

The middleware modules allow you to perform additional tasks on request and response. You can also define an error handling middleware.

KoaJS another great framework that comes from the same creator of Express.

As a lightweight framework, KoaJS provides a minimal interface, aiming to be smaller, more expressive, and more robust for developing web apps and APIs.

KoaJS uses async functions to reduce the need for callbacks and significantly improves error handling. It doesn’t bundle middlewares within its core and provides a refined suite of methods of method that fasten the process of making servers.

If you are familiar with async functions without callbacks and find yourself comfortable dealing with them, go for KoaJS.

NestJS is a framework for building efficient, scalable Node.js server-side applications.

Yes, there are tons of JavaScript frameworks out there and you may think why need another one? Well, despite the huge amounts of JavaScript frameworks, the good ones dedicated to building backend service aren’t that much. NestJS is one of them.

NestJS uses robust HTTP Server frameworks like Express. The thing that makes you want to pick Nestjs over Express is that Nestjs starts a new project with a clear architecture. With that being said, you will be provided simple components such as modules, controllers, and providers, which makes it easier than starting from nothing.

NestJS is one of the fastest-growing Node.js recently with a large community and support system. If you need to build a highly scalable and easy-to-maintain application, give Nestjs a try.

When it comes to realtime communication between the client and server, we can’t help but mention SocketIO, a library that helps realtime apps connecting and doing realtime updating of responses and requests.

SocketIO enables realtime bi-directional event-based communication. It supports well on every platform, browser, or device. So, when sending and receiving data using SocketIO, you don’t have to worry about cross-browser compatibility.

The most popular example of using SocketIO are chat apps. These kinds of applications update live messages instantly which requires background process refreshed to handle such tasks continuously. And Socket.io offers the ability to develop those features easily.

Thus don’t ignore SocketIO if you want to deal with realtime tasks.

Conclusion

In the world of overwhelming web frameworks, Node.js frameworks take the leading position in terms of efficient development, product performance, and code quality.

Above are the most popularly used Node.js frameworks. It’s hard to determine which one is the best. Each framework offers different features and you should choose wisely based on your needs.

What Node.js frameworks are you using and why? Please let me know in the comment below.

Hope you enjoy this article.

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