Unlocking the Power of NestJS, Vite, and esbuild
In this article, we will delve into the world of NestJS, Vite, and esbuild, exploring their capabilities, features, and use cases. We will also learn how to configure a NestJS app to utilize both Vite and esbuild as dependencies.
What is NestJS?
NestJS is a Node.js framework for building efficient and scalable enterprise server-side/backend applications. It supports all the latest ECMAScript versions of both JavaScript and TypeScript. NestJS combines Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), Functional Programming (FP), and Functional Reactive Programming (FRP) concepts to solve architectural challenges in designing backend applications.
Key Features of NestJS:
- Platform-independent
- Uses Express as a dependency by default
- Can be configured to use Fastify
- Easy customization via exposed APIs
What is Vite?
Vite is a build tool that offers near-instant dev server startup times. It leverages native ES modules in the browser and tooling written with languages that compile to native code to improve performance. Vite pre-bundles dependencies using esbuild under the hood and serves source code over native ESM to the browser.
Key Features of Vite:
- Near-instant dev server startup time
- Pre-bundles dependencies using esbuild
- Serves source code over native ESM
What is esbuild?
esbuild is a blazing-fast JavaScript bundler written in Go. It utilizes Go’s parallelism and ability to transform source code to machine code. Its features include huge plugin support, a minifier, TypeScript and JSX support, and tree-shaking capabilities.
Installing and Configuring a NestJS App
To get started with NestJS, install the CLI and create a new project. The CLI will bootstrap the starter code, and you can choose the package manager of your preference. Once the installation is complete, navigate into the project folder and start the application.
Exploring the NestJS Boilerplate
The NestJS boilerplate includes several files, such as app.controller.ts, app.service.ts, app.module.ts, and main.ts. Each file has a specific purpose, and understanding their roles is essential for building a robust application.
Installing Vite and esbuild with NestJS
To integrate Vite into a NestJS backend app, install Vite via the plugin and create a vite.config.ts file to configure the project. Update the entry point of the app server file to export the app named in the Vite config. Add an npm script to run the dev server, and use the npm run dev command to start the application.
Conclusion
In this article, we have explored the capabilities of NestJS, Vite, and esbuild. We have learned how to configure a NestJS app to utilize both Vite and esbuild as dependencies and created a simple boilerplate backend that can be used as a starting point for future projects. By combining these technologies, developers can build efficient and scalable applications with improved performance and productivity.