The Ultimate List of Node.js REST API Frameworks for Modern Web Development
The demand for web applications significantly boosted in 2022 as most businesses utilized them and provided a better user experience. Developers are constantly testing various frameworks containing advanced features to develop web applications. However, Node.js frameworks are the perfect choice for around 4 out of 5 back-end and full-stack developers.
Node.js frameworks provide unique toolsets to software engineers for developing various use cases. They can effectively use those toolsets without consuming extra time or wasting more money on web app development. A popular Node.js technology typically maintains the active developer’s community for suggesting new frameworks. However, the selection of the right framework is important among many available.
Different Frameworks of Node.js
Node.js is a runtime environment of JavaScript. It is a platform to run JavaScript codes and make them transportable on the server side. These frameworks are used to create functions and are considered a runtime environment for developers to run a program. A large number of developers have written frameworks for Node.js such as Meteor.js, Express.js, and other tools.
These frameworks enable developers to create unique functions for Node.js apps to facilitate software engineers. There are different types of frameworks for web-app technology. Most of them support a specific usage in the development process. The fundamental Node.js frameworks are 3 types MVC, Full-Stack MVC, and REST API frameworks.
- MVC Frameworks:
These frameworks feature extraordinary design patterns by splitting application logic into 3 main parts including models, controllers, and views. The development concerns separations make sustaining and scaling the app significantly simpler. A classic example of an MVC framework is Express.js.
- Full-Stack MVC Frameworks:
Full-Stack MVC frameworks provide an excellent deal with libraries and structure when developing a real-time app. It also offers template engines and a series of other essential development functionalities. Moreover, they are capable of taking care of both back-end and front-end application development.
- REST API Frameworks:
Node.js frameworks contain a complete reference to faster develop apps with Representational State Transfer API or REST API built experience. So, developers don’t need to worry about the architectural designs of network applications. However, all these frameworks offer a ready programming interface to save time in the app development process.
List of Popular Node.js REST API Frameworks:
- Hapi.js
- Express.js
- Koa.js
- Sails.js
- Meteor.js
- Derby.js
- Total.js
- Adonis.js
- LoopBack.js
- Nest.js
- Hapi.js
Eran Hammer at Walmart introduced the Hapi.js framework to manage traffic. This is a robust and powerful open-source excellent node JS framework for creating JSON API. Most API servers, HTTP proxy applications, and websites are developed with the Hapi.js framework.
This framework includes many key features including input validation, configuration-based functionality, error handling, implementing caching, logging, and many others. It is a well-designed plugin system to present Hapi.js as one of the most feasible frameworks.
- Express.js
TJ Holoway Chuk developed the Express.js framework which is a flexible Node.js app framework to develop single-page, multi-page, and hybrid apps. This framework offers a powerful set of features for mobile and web application development. However, Express.js doesn’t have an out-of-the-box object-relational mapping engine.
Express wasn’t developed around specific components. This is coupled with a lightning-fast setup and the transparent JavaScript environment of Node. It makes the Express a powerful option for agile development and faster prototyping. This framework is famous for startups that need to quickly develop a product without very much fragment code.
- Koa.js
The creators of the massively used Node.js framework Express.js, Koa developed and maintained this framework. However, Express.js, Koa is a cross-platform server-side runtime environment app. It is an object featuring an array of middleware functions developed and executed in a stacked manner upon request.
This ability makes it simpler for web developers to create fast and scalable network apps with JavaScript. It enhances robustness, and interoperability, and is preferable for making writing middleware. However, web developers can speed up the development of custom web apps in JavaScript.
- Sails.js
This is an MVC (model-view-controller) framework for Node.js that uses the fundamental of convention over configuration. The Ruby on Rails web framework inspires it. This can imitate the frequent MVC pattern to develop single-page apps, real-time apps, and REST APIs.
This model massively uses code generators to enable application development with fewer written codes. The framework is designed on top of Socket.io (a JavaScript library) for adding bidirectional, real-time, app’s event-based communication, and Express.js.
- Meteor.js
This platform is used to create applications using Node.js with any frontend framework such as React, Angular, or Blaze. Keep in mind that Blaze is the front-end framework of Meteor.js with a default MongoDB database.
However, zero configuration build tools of the Meteor provide dynamic imports and code splitting. It is faster with nicely integrated frontend and backend real-time features. Meteor is excellent for accounts and user authentication.
- Derby.js
This is an open-source and full-stack framework for creating modern real-time web and mobile applications. Derby.js uses compatible with any database, the Pub-Sub. Developers use the NPM to include functionality and features in a Derby project.
However, no other party is able to automatically load a library and is omitted globally in Derby. This framework is dedicated to allowing users to develop fast-loading and flexible real-time web applications.
- Total.js
This is a 3-year-old modern and modular Node.js with excellent support for the MVC architecture. Total.js provides full compatibility with client-side frameworks such as Polymer, Angular.js, Bootstrap, and Backbone.js.
This framework provides stability with asynchronous, extensible, and the best performance. Most of its tools don’t need to compress and have easy-to-use features such as Grunt.
- Adonis.js
This is a Node.js framework having a devoted MVC structure. Adonis features a unique design pattern for breaking specific functions into various parts of the applications. This framework utilizes an easy-to-use edge template engine. Adonis.js has its own Command Line Interface (CLI).
- LoopBack.js
This is a Node.js easy-to-use CLI and a dynamic API explorer framework. LoopBack.js enables developers to build their models based on their schema or dynamic models without a schema. This framework is compatible with an excellent number of REST services.
LoobBack.js also supports a significant range of databases including Oracle, MySQL, Postgres, MongoDB, and others. It also enables users to develop a server API for mapping another server such as a proxy for another API.
- Nest.js
Nest.js is a powerful Node.js framework for developing reliable, efficient, and scalable server-side applications. It helps developers to build highly scalable, modular, and sustainable server-side web applications. This framework offers extensibility and implements the MVC pattern.
The native support for TypeScript is its more powerful feature. It enables developers to access the latest ECMAScript features and additional static type-checking with powerful tools for bigger apps. Nest.js provides efficient design patterns and remarkable solutions to Node.js using the latest JavaScript features.