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ExpressJS vs Sails.js: What are the differences?

Introduction

This Markdown code provides a comparison between ExpressJS and Sails.js frameworks, highlighting their key differences.

  1. Language and Compatibility: ExpressJS is a minimal, unopinionated web application framework for Node.js, making it compatible with any JavaScript backend. On the other hand, Sails.js is built on top of Express.js and provides additional features like configuration and conventions based on MVC architecture.

  2. Automatic Blueprint APIs: Sails.js has an automatic API generator called "blueprints" that allows developers to easily generate RESTful APIs based on predefined controller actions and models. ExpressJS does not provide such automatic generation of APIs, requiring developers to manually implement and configure their API endpoints.

  3. Real-time functionality: Sails.js provides built-in support for real-time communication through WebSockets and a pub/sub system called "sockets". This allows developers to easily implement real-time features like chat applications. ExpressJS, on the other hand, does not have built-in support for real-time functionality, requiring developers to use external libraries or implement their own solutions.

  4. Database Integration: While both frameworks can work with various databases, Sails.js provides a native ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) called Waterline. This ORM is agnostic to the database type and allows developers to easily switch between different databases without changing their code. ExpressJS does not come with a native ORM, requiring developers to choose and integrate a separate ORM library.

  5. Community and Ecosystem: ExpressJS has a larger and more mature community compared to Sails.js. This means that ExpressJS has a wider range of available libraries, plugins, and resources, making it easier to find solutions and get help when needed. Sails.js, being a younger framework, has a smaller and less mature community with fewer available resources.

  6. Flexibility and Extensibility: ExpressJS is known for its flexibility and minimalistic approach, allowing developers to have full control over their application's structure and architecture. This makes it easy to customize and extend ExpressJS applications according to specific project requirements. Sails.js, on the other hand, follows a convention-over-configuration approach, providing a more opinionated structure and predefined conventions. While this can speed up development by reducing the need for manual configuration, it may limit the flexibility of customization.

In summary, ExpressJS is a minimal and flexible framework with a larger community and more resources, while Sails.js provides additional features like automatic API generation, real-time functionality, and a database-agnostic ORM. The choice between the two frameworks depends on the specific needs of the project and the preference for flexibility versus predefined conventions.

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Pros of ExpressJS
Pros of Sails.js
  • 381
    Simple
  • 336
    Node.js
  • 244
    Javascript
  • 193
    High performance
  • 152
    Robust routing
  • 73
    Middlewares
  • 72
    Open source
  • 59
    Great community
  • 37
    Hybrid web applications
  • 16
    Well documented
  • 9
    Sinatra inspired
  • 9
    Rapid development
  • 7
    Isomorphic js.. superfast and easy
  • 7
    Socket connection
  • 5
    Light weight
  • 4
    Npm
  • 4
    Resource available for learning
  • 3
    Callbacks
  • 3
    Event loop
  • 2
    Data stream
  • 1
    Easy to use
  • 49
    Data-driven apis
  • 47
    Waterline ORM
  • 37
    Mvc
  • 32
    Easy rest
  • 25
    Real-time
  • 21
    Open source
  • 19
    Service-oriented architecture
  • 18
    Scalable
  • 10
    Convension over configuration
  • 9
    Rails-like asset pipeline
  • 9
    Node machines and machinepacks
  • 7
    Easy route/controller generation
  • 6
    Ruby on Rails basic stuff for JS devs
  • 3
    CLI for scaffolding project pieces
  • 3
    WebSocket support
  • 1
    Supportive community

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Cons of ExpressJS
Cons of Sails.js
  • 27
    Not python
  • 17
    Overrated
  • 14
    No multithreading
  • 9
    Javascript
  • 5
    Not fast
  • 3
    Easily Insecure for Novices
  • 5
    Waterline ORM
  • 4
    Defaults to VueJS
  • 0
    Standard MVC

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What is ExpressJS?

Express is a minimal and flexible node.js web application framework, providing a robust set of features for building single and multi-page, and hybrid web applications.

What is Sails.js?

Sails is designed to mimic the MVC pattern of frameworks like Ruby on Rails, but with support for the requirements of modern apps: data-driven APIs with scalable, service-oriented architecture.

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What are some alternatives to ExpressJS and Sails.js?
Koa
Koa aims to be a smaller, more expressive, and more robust foundation for web applications and APIs. Through leveraging generators Koa allows you to ditch callbacks and greatly increase error-handling. Koa does not bundle any middleware.
React
Lots of people use React as the V in MVC. Since React makes no assumptions about the rest of your technology stack, it's easy to try it out on a small feature in an existing project.
Flask
Flask is intended for getting started very quickly and was developed with best intentions in mind.
Django
Django is a high-level Python Web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design.
Golang
Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.
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