Overview

Spring

Stacks3.9K

Followers4.8K

Votes1.1K

GitHub Stars59.1K

Forks38.8K

NestJS

Stacks2.7K

Followers3.0K

Votes326

GitHub Stars73.3K

Forks8.1K

NestJS vs Spring: What are the differences?

## Introduction
When choosing a backend framework for web development, developers often weigh the pros and cons of different options such as NestJS and Spring. These frameworks offer a range of features and functionality that cater to varied project requirements. However, there are key differences between NestJS and Spring that developers should consider before making a decision.

1. **Language Compatibility**: NestJS is closely aligned with TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript, enabling developers to leverage TypeScript features such as static typing, decorators, and interfaces. On the other hand, Spring primarily uses Java, providing developers with the robustness and scalability of the Java ecosystem. This difference in language compatibility influences the development experience and the types of projects each framework is best suited for.

2. **Modularity and Dependency Injection**: NestJS embraces a modular architecture and relies heavily on dependency injection to manage component dependencies. In contrast, Spring Framework also emphasizes modularity and dependency injection but provides additional features such as aspect-oriented programming (AOP) and inversion of control (IoC) containers. This distinction impacts how developers structure and organize their code in complex applications.

3. **Decorators and Annotations**: NestJS utilizes decorators extensively to simplify routing, parameter handling, and middleware management. Spring, on the other hand, relies on annotations to define aspects such as controller mappings, request handling methods, and bean configurations. Understanding the differences in how these frameworks use decorators and annotations can influence the design and maintenance of backend applications.

4. **Tooling and Ecosystem**: NestJS benefits from a concise and intuitive CLI (Command Line Interface) that streamlines project setup, scaffolding, and code generation tasks. Spring provides a comprehensive set of tools and libraries through the Spring ecosystem, including Spring Boot for rapid application development and Spring Cloud for building cloud-native applications. The availability and extensibility of tooling impact the developer experience and productivity in both frameworks.

5. **Community and Support**: NestJS, being a relatively newer framework, has a growing community that actively contributes plugins, extensions, and resources to enhance the framework's capabilities. Spring, with its long-established presence in the enterprise Java ecosystem, boasts a vast community and robust support channels, including documentation, forums, and enterprise services. Choosing between NestJS and Spring also involves considering the strength and accessibility of their respective communities.

6. **Scalability and Performance**: NestJS, built on Node.js and Express, offers lightweight and fast runtime performance suitable for microservices and real-time applications. Spring, with its Java foundation, provides scalability and performance optimizations for enterprise-grade applications that demand high throughput and reliability. Evaluating the scalability and performance characteristics of each framework is crucial in determining their suitability for specific project requirements.

In Summary, understanding the language compatibility, modularity, tooling, community support, and performance characteristics of NestJS and Spring is crucial for developers in selecting the appropriate backend framework for their projects.

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Advice on Spring, NestJS

juan9222

Jul 25, 2020

Needs advice

Hi there, I'm deciding the technology to use in my project.

I need to build software that has:

Login
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Main View (access to a user account, News, General Info, Business hours, software, and parts section).
Account Preferences.
Web Shop for Parts (Support, Download Sections, Ticket System).

The most critical functionality is a WebSocket that connects between a car that sends real-time data through serial communication, and a server performs diagnosis on the car and sends the results back to the user.

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Comments

Anonymous

Dec 15, 2020

Needs adviceon

Spring

Java

Node.js

I am provided with the opportunity to learn one of these technologies during my training. I have prior experience with Spring and found it tough and still haven't figured out when to use what annotations among the thousands of annotations provided. On the other hand, I am very proficient in Java data structures and algorithms (custom comparators, etc.)

I have used Node.js and found it interesting, but I am wondering If I am taking the risk of choosing a framework that has a comparatively lesser scope in the future. One advantage I see with the node.js is the number of tutorials available and the ease with which I can code.

Please recommend which path to take. Is Spring learnable, or should I spend my energy on learning Node.js instead?

290k views290k

Comments

Louai

Full Stack Web Developer

May 15, 2020

Needs adviceon

Node.js

TypeScript

ExpressJS

I'm planning with a small team to create an application which is a platform for restaurants. I'm on the backend almost alone currently. I'm going to use Node.js for that, and I'm very fond of TypeScript, and I worked before mostly with ExpressJS. The team may get bigger as the application becomes bigger and more successful, so I have the Scalability concern in mind now, and I was considering these options:

Use Node+Express+Typescript
Use Node+NestJs (which utilizes Typescript by default)

Option 2 is enticing to me because recently I came to love NestJS and it provides more scalability for the project and uses Typescript in the best way and uses Express under the hood. Also I come from an Angular 2 background, which I think is the best frontend framework (my opinion, and I know React quite well), which makes Nest feel familiar to me because of the similarity between Nest and Angular. Option 1 on the other hand uses Express which is a minimalist framework, very popular one, but it doesn't provide the same scalability and brings decision fatigue about what to combine with it and may not utilize Typescript in the best way. Yet, on the other hand, it is flexible and it may be easier to manipulate things in different ways with it. Another very important thing is that it would be easier in my view to hire Node developers with skills in Express than NestJs. The majority of Node developers are much more familiar with JavaScript and Express.

What is your advice and why? I would love to hear especially from developers who worked on both Express and Nest

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Comments

Detailed Comparison

Spring	NestJS
A key element of Spring is infrastructural support at the application level: Spring focuses on the "plumbing" of enterprise applications so that teams can focus on application-level business logic, without unnecessary ties to specific deployment environments.	Nest is a framework for building efficient, scalable Node.js server-side applications. It uses progressive JavaScript, is built with TypeScript (preserves compatibility with pure JavaScript) and combines elements of OOP (Object Oriented Programming), FP (Functional Programming), and FRP (Functional Reactive Programming). Under the hood, Nest makes use of Express, but also, provides compatibility with a wide range of other libraries, like e.g. Fastify, allowing for easy use of the myriad third-party plugins which are available.
-	Extensible - Gives you true flexibility by allowing use of any other libraries thanks to modular architecture.; Versatile - An adaptable ecosystem that is a fully-fledged backbone for all kinds of server-side applications.; Progressive - Takes advantage of latest JavaScript features, bringing design patterns and mature solutions to node.js world.
Statistics
GitHub Stars 59.1K	GitHub Stars 73.3K
GitHub Forks 38.8K	GitHub Forks 8.1K
Stacks 3.9K	Stacks 2.7K
Followers 4.8K	Followers 3.0K
Votes 1.1K	Votes 326
Pros & Cons
Pros 230 Java 157 Open source 136 Great community 123 Very powerful 114 Enterprise Cons 15 Draws you into its own ecosystem and bloat 4 Poor documentation 3 Java 3 Verbose configuration 2 Java is more verbose language in compare to python	Pros 54 Powerful but super friendly to work with 42 Fast development 40 Easy to understand documentation 36 Angular style syntax for the backend 32 NodeJS ecosystem Cons 10 User base is small. Less help on Stackoverflow 10 Difficult to debug 5 Angular-like architecture 3 Updates with breaking changes 3 Javascript
Integrations
Java	No integrations available

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