Node js is one of the leading frameworks for backend development. As it is based on JavaScript, everyone loves to play with this language. More and more companies realize the benefits of this framework, shifting towards using it in their tech stacks.
Everyone is talking about many tech stacks like MERN, MEAN, MEVN, etc., and this gets complicated. All this confusion happens because every project has different requirements, and the number of frameworks under node js is almost infinite.
To spot the proper framework in this swarm of libraries and modules, you need to have an idea about the top leaders. So, in this post, you’ll get to know about the best node js frameworks for web applications.
Let’s begin by looking at the benefits that node js offers.
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Benefits of Node JS Frameworks
- Blazing Fast: Node js benefits from the chrome v8 JavaScript engine with a high execution speed. This means that all the code run on this engine gets executed at a very high speed. With this high-speed program execution, the language has made its way in real-time applications that require high speed.
- Easy To Learn: As it is based on JavaScript, learning node js is relatively easy. You need to have a good command over JavaScript syntax and features, and you are ready to go. Familiarity with backend concepts is a great way to simplify your learning and jump into development.
- Scalable: Node js uses microservice architecture to build APIs. Moreover, it uses a non-blocking IO model and single threading to be efficient. Node js applications are elastic and can be scaled to any level instantly.
The only pre-requisite for scaling node js applications is that the code written for the system should be scalable and efficient. Apart from this, there is no problem for node js to scale, and it can accommodate thousands of requests simultaneously without losing a pinch of performance characteristics.
Top 5 Best Node JS Web Application Development Frameworks
Having known about the benefits of node js, let’s explore the best frameworks available in this language.
ExpressJS
ExpressJS is a server-side development framework for Node js, released in 2010. It is primarily used to set up servers and create APIs. With express js, you can do almost everything just like node js, but this framework refines node js functionalities.
Core Node js lacks some features, and express js fulfills those gaps. Express provides HTTP helpers to the framework using which communicating with HTTP endpoints becomes easy. Sending and receiving HTTP requests is greatly simplified in this framework, and you can even set up routes for every request.
Express JS uses the MVC architecture, and anyone can benefit from the usage of this framework. It provides templating features and is highly secure. Due to this, it is a leading contender of enterprise applications.
Socket.io
If you’ve built a real-time application using node js, you’ll surely know about socket.io. For those who haven’t used it yet, socket.io is a framework that helps you build real-time web applications using the node js framework.
Socket.io is a framework that infuses real-time communication capabilities in node js projects. With socket.io, you can build streaming services, live-updating dashboards, chat applications, and medical and aviation applications requiring real-time feedback and data transfer.
Using socket.io is easy; it has a similar API and code structure whether you use it in the frontend or backend. This is an added benefit above the JavaScript implementation of the framework.
Moreover, socket.io is excellent at handling errors and network disruptions. It comes with an auto reconnection feature, which means that if the application gets disconnected between the operation, it will try reconnecting on its own.
Meteor.js
Meteor.js is a single language JavaScript framework. It uses only one language throughout, and due to this, it’s trendy among developers. Meteor was launched in 2012, and since then, it has given good competition to the previous frameworks.
Meteor is friends with mobile operating systems like iOS and Android, meaning all meteor applications can run effortlessly on these newer platforms. If you want to expand your node js code to multiple platforms, meteor is the ideal web application development framework.
Meteor is a full-stack framework so that you can make frontend as well as backend APIs using this framework. One of the unique benefits of using this framework is that you only need to be good at one language and ship the app on multiple platforms.
FeatherJS
As the name suggests, featherjs is a lightweight framework for node js. Feather.js has gained a good market presence quickly because of its automatic REST API functionality. Using this, developing REST APIs is very simple, and programmers don’t need to get in hassles.
Moreover, feather also has real-time functionalities like socket.io, which is a direct competitor of this framework. Feather can work along with databases and other frameworks like react and react-native.
Koa.js
Koa.js is a next-generation framework. Many people consider it a successor and update to the node js itself because of its features. Koa.js is a lightweight implementation of express.js with all the functionalities like error handling, APIs, and HTTP modules.
When building large applications, sometimes execution speed can become a bottleneck. To overcome these, you require a fast and reliable framework, which is where Koa.js shines. Its performance metrics have proved it to be better than expres.js in many scenarios.
It is not much used as a new framework, so the community is very small. So, before using koa.js, make sure that you know everything about the framework and can solve the problems on your own. Otherwise, it can be a hassle to look around for solutions given the smaller community.
You can use any of these frameworks; the choice depends on your requirements. The only way to realize benefits is to ensure that you hire best node js developers to look after the development. Apart from this, there’s nothing much you can do.
Find the right developers and evaluate your requirements to choose the proper node js web application development framework.
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