For many (many) years, I've used https://hapi.dev/ for NodeJS backends, and it's been extremely solid. But, it's always interesting to look at newer options as they emerge. So have a look at Nest.JS.

The full playlist in on YouTube if you prefer.

Nest.JS != Next.JS

Did you mean NextJS ?

No. Very different.

TL:DR;
- Nest.JS = API
- Next.JS = API+WEB.

Here, Let Me Google That For You

Passive-aggressively teach your friends how to Google. For all those people who find it more convenient to ask you rather than search it themselves. Not associated with Google.

GoogleThatForYou.com

Ok, according to GPT 4 (with a bit of prompt engineering), Nest.JS is...

... a TypeScript-first, modular framework for building scalable, maintainable server-side applications, leveraging Angular-inspired patterns like dependency injection and decorators. It excels in creating well-structured, enterprise-grade Node.js applications with built-in support for microservices, WebSockets, and extensive testing utilities.

The important part for me is:

well-structured, enterprise-grade Node.js applications

As you work in larger teams on more complex projects, that "well-structured" part becomes ever more critical. I've found having a highly opinionated starting point can really help reduce bike shedding and yak shaving.

I'm not the biggest fan of "Angular-inspired" but was willing to hold my judgement, and it's working well with GraphQL out of the box is very nice. The microservices' thing is also interesting, but I'm also wary of the approach, seeing it cause more problems than it tends to solve.

Anyway, Nest.JS piqued my interest, perhaps yours too?

Video introduction to Nest.JS

There are 5 videos in this playlist, with an optional 2 deeper videos, which are code-along style tutorials.

At normal speed, the whole thing is 1 hour, 12 minutes, but you can skip intros and boring bits, and you should be able to cover it in an hour if you are just watching, or perhaps 2 if you are trying to follow along in your own IDE.

100 seconds - Nest.JS

10 min - An overview

30 min - Understanding Middlewares, Pipes and Interceptors

30 min - GraphQL and NestJS

Much longer Nest.JS videos*

You may not need to watch these, or all of the video. I recommend you skip them for now - but come back if you feel lost or need more help.

3 hour intro / overview

2 hour intro / overview

Bonus content!

While exploring Nest.JS I also toyed with the idea of dropping Prisma as my goto database connection solution, as we tended not to use most of its features and its install took too long.

We discovered 🌦️ Drizzle, which looked interesting. According to GPT Drizzle is:

Drizzle ORM is a TypeScript-focused ORM designed for modern databases, offering a simple, type-safe API for interacting with SQL databases. It stands out for its zero-dependency approach, compile-time validation, and seamless integration with popular frameworks like Next.js, making it ideal for building reliable, type-safe backend applications.

Have a look.

100 seconds - 🌦️ Drizzle

Drizzle + NestJS (30 mins)

Hope you found this useful.