DEV Community

Cover image for 10 Trending Node.js Libraries and Frameworks to Boost Your Web Development
Rahul Ladumor
Rahul Ladumor

Posted on • Updated on

10 Trending Node.js Libraries and Frameworks to Boost Your Web Development

πŸš€ 10 Must-Use Node.js Libraries and Frameworks for Modern Developers in 2023

Are you looking to improve your knowledge of Node.js development? No need to search any further, as we have put together a list of the top 10 Node.js libraries and frameworks that are now in style and can help you with your web development projects. These tools can assist you in streamlining your development process and enhancing the performance of your applications whether you are a novice or an experienced developer.

Let's explore these libraries and frameworks right away!

1. Fastify πŸš€

A well-liked and effective web framework for Node.js, Fastify provides a quick and flexible approach to create web applications. It is portable and may be used to build a variety of apps, including web apps, RESTful APIs, and WebSocket-based real-time programmes. Here is some sample Fastify code to build a simple HTTP server:

const fastify = require("fastify")();

fastify.get("/", async (request, reply) => {
  return "Hello World!";
});

fastify.listen(3000, (err) => {
  if (err) {
    fastify.log.error(err);
    process.exit(1);
  }
  console.log("Example app listening on port 3000!");
});

Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

2. Socket.io 🌐

A JavaScript library called Socket.io allows for real-time, two-way communication between the server and the client. It is very helpful when creating real-time applications like chat programmes, online gaming systems, and team-building tools. Here's an illustration of how to deliver messages and manage incoming connections using Socket.io:

const io = require('socket.io')(http);

io.on('connection', (socket) => {
  console.log('a user connected');

  socket.on('chat message', (msg) => {
    console.log('message: ' + msg);
    io.emit('chat message', msg);
  });

  socket.on('disconnect', () => {
    console.log('user disconnected');
  });
});
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

3. Mongoose πŸƒ

A MongoDB object modelling tool created for asynchronous environments is called Mongoose. To model the data for your application, it offers a simple schema-based solution and includes built-in type casting, validation, query construction, and business logic hooks. Here is an illustration of how to use Mongoose to define a schema and build a model:

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const userSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
  name: String,
  age: Number,
  email: String
});

const User = mongoose.model('User', userSchema);
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

4. Nodemailer πŸ“§

Email sending is made possible by the Nodemailer module for Node.js apps. It offers a user-friendly API for sending emails using several transport protocols, such as SMTP, sendmail, or Amazon SES. Here's an illustration of how to send an email using SMTP transport using Nodemailer:

const nodemailer = require('nodemailer');

const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({
  host: 'smtp.gmail.com',
  port: 465,
  secure: true,
  auth: {
    user: 'your@gmail.com',
    pass: 'yourpassword'
  }
});

const mailOptions = {
  from: 'your@gmail.com',
  to: 'recipient@gmail.com',
  subject: 'Hello from Node.js',
  text: 'Hello, this is a test email sent from Node.js!'
};

transporter.sendMail(mailOptions, (error, info) => {
  if (error) {
    console.log(error);
  } else {
    console.log('Email sent: ' + info.response);
  }
});
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

5. Passport.js πŸ”‘

A well-liked authentication middleware for Node.js called Passport.js offers a simple and adaptable API for user authentication in your online apps. It supports a number of different types of authentication, including local authentication, OAuth, OpenID, and others. Here is an illustration of how to authenticate a user with a username and password using Passport.js:

const passport = require('passport');
const LocalStrategy = require('passport-local').Strategy;

passport.use(new LocalStrategy(
  function(username, password, done) {
    User.findOne({ username: username }, function(err, user) {
      if (err) { return done(err); }
      if (!user) { return done(null, false); }
      if (!user.validPassword(password)) { return done(null, false); }
      return done(null, user);
    });
  }
));
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

6. Async.js ⏰

A Node.js utility module called Async.js offers a number of functions to handle asynchronous processes in a more understandable and controllable manner. It has numerous features, including waterfall, parallel, series, and more. The following is an illustration of how to use the async.parallel function to carry out several asynchronous tasks concurrently:

const async = require('async');

async.parallel([
    function(callback) {
        setTimeout(function() {
            callback(null, 'one');
        }, 200);
    },
    function(callback) {
        setTimeout(function() {
            callback(null, 'two');
        }, 100);
    }
],
function(err, results) {
    console.log(results);
    // output: ['one', 'two']
});
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

7. GraphQL πŸ”

A query language and runtime for APIs called GraphQL provides more effective, potent, and adaptable client-server communication. The data types and processes are defined using a schema-based method, and clients can specify exactly what data they require. Here is an illustration of how to define a GraphQL resolver and schema for a straightforward API:

const { GraphQLSchema, GraphQLObjectType, GraphQLString } = require('graphql');

const schema = new GraphQLSchema({
  query: new GraphQLObjectType({
    name: 'HelloWorld',
    fields: {
      message: {
        type: GraphQLString,
        resolve: () => 'Hello World!'
      }
    }
  })
});
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

8. Axios πŸ“‘

Axios is a promise-based HTTP client that works with Node.js and the browser to make HTTP requests and handle answers quickly and easily. It is compatible with several features, including interceptors, cancellation, and others. Here's an illustration of how to make an HTTP GET request with Axios and deal with the response:

const axios = require('axios');

axios.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1')
  .then(function (response) {
    console.log(response.data);
  })
  .catch(function (error) {
    console.log(error);
  });
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

9. Pino 🌲

A small and lightning-fast logging package for Node.js is called Pino. Numerous features are available, such as support for various destinations, log levels, and serializers. High-performance logging is made possible through Pino's streaming interface. An illustration of using Pino to log a message with multiple log levels is given below:

const pino = require("pino")({
  level: "info",
  prettyPrint: true,
  base: { service: "user-service" },
  formatters: {
    level: (label, number) => ({ level: label }),
  },
  transports: [
    { stream: process.stdout },
    { stream: require("fs").createWriteStream("error.log"), level: "error" },
  ],
});

pino.error("This is an error message");
pino.warn("This is a warning message");
pino.info("This is an info message");

Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

10. Nest.js 🐦

A progressive Node.js framework called Nest.js is used to create scalable and effective server-side applications. It offers a dependency injection framework, a modular architecture, and a simple CLI to generate boilerplate code. Additional features supported include routing, middleware, authentication, and more. Here's an illustration of how to use Nest.js to build a straightforward API endpoint:

import { Controller, Get } from '@nestjs/common';

@Controller('hello')
export class HelloController {
  @Get()
  getHello(): string {
    return 'Hello World!';
  }
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

In conclusion, you can strengthen your web development projects and enhance your development experience with the help of these 10 popular Node.js modules and frameworks. These tools can give you the capabilities and functions you need to accomplish your objectives, whether you need to construct a web application, manage real-time communication, manage authentication, or log communications. So, start investigating them and using them in your upcoming project!

Photo representation of a modern web development environment. Foreground shows a Node.js logo, surrounded by smaller icons of popular libraries and frameworks. The background is a blurred coding environment with lines of JavaScript code. The title '10 Trending Node.js Libraries and Frameworks to Boost Your Web Development' is prominently displayed at the top.

Don’t forget to smash that like button If you found this blog useful and want to learn more, here are some ways you can keep in touch:

Top comments (48)

Collapse
 
__al profile image
Info Comment hidden by post author - thread only accessible via permalink

Boring and out dated. Bad bot

Collapse
 
wisdomsamuel7 profile image
Wisdom-Samuel7

πŸ˜”πŸ˜”πŸ˜”πŸ˜΄

Collapse
 
gabizz profile image
Gabriel Claudiu Maftei

good informative article. one observation, though... half of them are indeed reliable, but arguably "trending" ...

Collapse
 
rahulladumor profile image
Rahul Ladumor

Thank you!

Collapse
 
msilvaspa profile image
Info Comment hidden by post author - thread only accessible via permalink

async.js -> promise (no lib)
axios -> fetch api (no lib)
winston -> pino (lighter and faster)
express.js -> fastify (more robust and express-middleware compatible)

Collapse
 
debojyotichatterjee9 profile image
Debojyoti Chatterjee

i prefer bunyan for logging though...

Collapse
 
pegasus4me profile image
Info Comment hidden by post author - thread only accessible via permalink
safoan.eth

article written by Chatgpt

Collapse
 
sloan profile image
Sloan the DEV Moderator

Hey, this article seems like it may have been generated with the assistance of ChatGPT.

We allow our community members to use AI assistance when writing articles as long as they abide by our guidelines. Could you review the guidelines and edit your post to add a disclaimer?

Collapse
 
bert2go profile image
Bert Stahl

One request please. Instead of spamming the comments section with an assumption, you should probably contact the author directly.

Collapse
 
rahulladumor profile image
Rahul Ladumor

Sure!

Collapse
 
tracker1 profile image
Info Comment hidden by post author - thread only accessible via permalink
Michael J. Ryan

It's 2023… async is a reserved word and don't use async.js this way today. I'm guessing this "article" was written by a bot.

Collapse
 
mannyistyping profile image
Info Comment hidden by post author - thread only accessible via permalink
Manny

I appreciate the call out here.

I'm disappointed in what is being broadcasted to a larger audience as posts in similar styles and themes which are often low quality.

Collapse
 
c0mmand3rj profile image
James Batista

This is a good list.

I have found Async.js to be a very useful library for handling asynchronous operations in projects. The library provides a lot of powerful functions that make it easy to manage complex workflows and avoid callback hell. Its error handling and flow control features have also been incredibly helpful in ensuring the stability and reliability of my applications.

One of the things I appreciate about Async.js is its ease of use. The functions are well documented and simple to understand, which has allowed me to quickly implement them in code. The thriving community of Async.js is awesome and very helpful.

Collapse
 
rahulladumor profile image
Rahul Ladumor

Thank you so much!

Collapse
 
maxharrisnet profile image
Max Harris

Thanks for sharing this. All of these picks give me a good starting point for working with Node.js. The code examples are a helpful touch as well. It's nice to see a sample without having to go to the docs.

Collapse
 
rahulladumor profile image
Rahul Ladumor

You're welcome! I'm glad to hear that the picks and code examples are useful for you. Node.js is a fantastic platform, and it's always great to have resources that simplify the learning curve. If you have any specific questions or need further examples, feel free to ask. Happy coding!

Collapse
 
andrewwebcoder profile image
Andrew-web-coder

Please, create a list of really fresh libraries, like Fancybox5

Collapse
 
rahulladumor profile image
Rahul Ladumor • Edited

Thank you for your suggestion! I will update accordingly.

Collapse
 
sanjayparmar277 profile image
sanjayparmar277

Nice article with usefull libraries, thanks for sharing. 😊

Collapse
 
rahulladumor profile image
Rahul Ladumor

Thank you so much

Collapse
 
starboysharma profile image
Info Comment hidden by post author - thread only accessible via permalink
Pankaj Sharma

Feels like a bot write this article.

Collapse
 
amadujallow profile image
Amadu Jallow

Great work man

Collapse
 
rahulladumor profile image
Rahul Ladumor

Thanks Man!

Collapse
 
kjsisco profile image
kjsisco

Wow, this is great info and I'm looking forward to diving in.

Collapse
 
rahulladumor profile image
Rahul Ladumor

Thank you so much!

Collapse
 
mezieb profile image
Okoro chimezie bright

Nice thanks for sharingπŸ‘

Collapse
 
rahulladumor profile image
Rahul Ladumor

Thank you!

Collapse
 
msamgan profile image
Mohammed Samgan Khan

hey guys, i create a sort of framework for the apis in node js, with express js.
have a look.

github.com/msamgan/expressjs-api-b...

Some comments have been hidden by the post's author - find out more