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Jeongho Nam
Jeongho Nam

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I made Express faster than Fastify (100x faster JSON, also NestJS)

Outline

Hello, I am developer of typia, and studying fastify in nowadays.

During the study, I could understand why fastify is faster than express. Also, I did an experiment imitating the secret of the fastify in express with typia's faster JSON stringify function.

From the experiment (benchmark), I could get interesting result that express became faster than fastify. So I would like to share it with you.

JSON stringify benchmark in server level

Made express to be faster than fastify


What typia is

// RUNTIME VALIDATORS
export function is<T>(input: unknown | T): input is T; // returns boolean
export function assert<T>(input: unknown | T): T; // throws TypeGuardError
export function validate<T>(input: unknown | T): IValidation<T>; // detailed
export const customValidators: CustomValidatorMap; // can add custom validators

// STRICT VALIDATORS
export function equals<T>(input: unknown | T): input is T;
export function assertEquals<T>(input: unknown | T): T;
export function validateEquals<T>(input: unknown | T): IValidation<T>;

// JSON
export function application<T>(): IJsonApplication; // JSON schema
export function assertParse<T>(input: string): T; // type safe parser
export function assertStringify<T>(input: T): string; // safe and faster
    // +) isParse, validateParse 
    // +) stringify, isStringify, validateStringify

// MISC
export function random<T>(): Primitive<T>; // generate random data
export function clone<T>(input: T): Primitive<T>; // deep clone
export function prune<T extends object>(input: T): void; // erase extra props
    // +) isClone, assertClone, validateClone
    // +) isPrune, assertPrune, validatePrune
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Before telling detailed stories, I'll introduce typia for a while.

It is a runtime validator library for TypeScript, which can perform above features just by only one line, just by utilizing pure TypeScript type. On the other hand, all of other alternative libraries require extra and duplicated schema definitions, which are different with the TypeScript type.

Furthermore, validation speed of typia is much faster than others. Comparing validation speed, typia is maximum 15,000x faster than class-validator. When it comes to the JSON stringify function, typia is maximum 100x faster than class-transformer and even type safe.


Secret of fastify

fastify is a competitive library of express, which uses faster speed as a weapon.

And one of the reason why fastify is faster than express is, fast-json-stringify. fast-json-stringify is another library what fastify team had developed, which boosts up JSON conversion speed by analyzing JSON schema definition.

By using the fast-json-stringify library, fastify can serialize JSON string much faster than express, and such difference makes fastify to be faster than express.

const fastJson = require('fast-json-stringify')

// REQUIRES JSON SCHEMA DEFINITION
const stringify = fastJson({
    title: 'Example Schema',
    type: 'object',
    properties: {
        firstName: {
            type: 'string'
        },
        lastName: {
            type: 'string'
        },
        age: {
            description: 'Age in years',
            type: 'integer'
        },
        reg: {
            type: 'string'
        }
    }
});

// MAKES JSON SERIALIZATION FASTER
console.log(stringify({
    firstName: 'Matteo',
    lastName: 'Collina',
    age: 32,
    reg: /"([^"]|\\")*"/
}));
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Stringify Benchmark

fast-json-stringify is faster than native JSON.stringify() function


Imitate secret of fastify in express

import typia from "typia";

// PURE TYPESCRIPT TYPE
interface IPerson {
    firstName: string;
    lastName: string;
    age: number; // Age in years
    reg: RegExp;
}

// EASIER THAN ANY OTHER LIBRARIES
typia.stringify<IPerson>({
    firstName: 'Matteo',
    lastName: 'Collina',
    age: 32,
    reg: /"([^"]|\\")*"/
});
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Studying source code of fastify, I could understand why fastify is faster.

By the way, typia has the same function like fast-json-stringify. Therefore, imitating secret of fastify was easily possible, too.

//----
// EXPRESS + TYPIA
//----
import express from "express";
import typia from "typia";

const server: express.Express = express();
const reply =
    <T>(stringify: (input: T) => string | null) =>
    (data: T) =>
    (_req: express.Request, res: express.Response) =>
        res
            .status(200)
            .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
            .send(stringify(data));

// VERY EASY TO IMPLEMENT
server.get(
    "/ObjectSimple",
    reply(typia.createIsStringify<ObjectSimple[]>())
         (storage.ObjectSimple),
);
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Here is the code imitating fastify library in express with typia.

I think that my solution is much easier than fastify, because typia does not require complicate JSON schema definition, and it just requires only pure TypeScript type.

Do you agree?

//----
// FASTIFY
//----
import fastify, { FastifyReply, FastifyRequest } from "fastify";
import typia from "typia";

const server = fastify();
const schema = (app: typia.IJsonApplication) => {
    const definitions: Record<string, typia.IJsonSchema> = {};
    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(app.components.schemas))
        definitions[key.replace("#/definitions/", "")] = value;

    return {
        schema: {
            response: {
                200: {
                    ...app.schemas[0]!,
                    definitions,
                },
            },
        },
    };
};
const reply = (data: object) => (_i: FastifyRequest, o: FastifyReply) =>
    o.send(data);

// DEFINING JSON SCHEMA IS A TERRIBLE WORK
// THEREFORE, I JUST USED typia.application() FUNCTION
server.get(
    "/ObjectSimple",
    schema(typia.application<[ObjectSimple[]], "ajv", "#/definitions">()),
    reply(storage.ObjectSimple),
);
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Also, to proceed experiment (benchmark) in the fastify side, I wrote server code of fastify, too. By the way, as defining JSON schema is a terrible work for me, I just generated the JSON schema data through typia.application() function.

Measuring benchmark of those servers through autocannon (another library what fastify team had built), I could get awesome result. express became faster than fastify in some cases, just by utilizing typia.stringify() function.

JSON stringify benchmark on server

express became faster than fastify in some cases


Boost up your NestJS server speed

Validation Benchmark

class-validator and class-transformer are extremely slow

You know what? NestJS is utilizing class-validator and class-transformer. Do you remember? those libraries were slowest than any other libraries in the above benchmarks.

  • class-validator is 15,000x times slower than typia
  • class-transformer is 100x times slower than typia

If you replace them to nestia (wrappers of typia for NestJS) supported decorators, you can boost up your NestJS developed backend server speed. Just by replacing some decorator functions like below, your server program would be much faster.

import { Controller } from "@nestjs/common";
import { TypedBody, TypedRoute } from "@nestia/core";

import type { IBbsArticle } from "@bbs-api/structures/IBbsArticle";

@Controller("bbs/articles")
export class BbsArticlesController {
    /** 
     * Store a new content.
     * 
     * @param inupt Content to store
     * @returns Newly archived article
     */
    @TypedRoute.Post() // 100x faster and safer JSON.stringify()
    public async store(
        // 15,000x faster validator
        @TypedBody() input: IBbsArticle.IStore 
    ): Promise<IBbsArticle>; 
        // do not need DTO class definition, 
        // just fine with interface
}
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Also, with the nestia, you can build evolved swagger than swagger. Furthermore, you can build SDK library (like tRPC), therefore, client deevelopers can use your API much easily and safely like below.

SDK utilization code

Frontend developers would be happy


fastify is still fast

Looking back above benchmark result, fastify is faster than combination of express and typia, when response data is small. If making the reponse data much smaller, fastify becomes always faster than express + typia.

I just assume that fastify has special optimized logic for header parsing, and reducing waiting time for each API call, but I don't know the exactly reason why. I need to study fastify more, and also need to study express, too.

I will fastify continuously, and will come back again with the reason why.

Thanks for reading my article, and hope my article was enjoyable.


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Top comments (38)

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metcoder profile image
Carlos Fuentes

Nice work with typia, the job done has been amazing :)
Would you be willing to create a Fastify plugin for typia?
The results can be amazing! Happy to help you with it.

I’m part of Fastify team btw, in case you would like to share some thoughts or doubts about Fastify :)

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam • Edited

Got it, I'll try at next Sunday (not tomorrow).

Anyway, where the plugin would be placed in? Just in my github account? Or as a fastify repo?

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metcoder profile image
Carlos Fuentes

Sure thing!

Yeah, made everything within a repo of your authorship and once done, we can incorporate it at the list of community plugins :)
Feel free to ping me out if you want a second pair eyes!

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam • Edited

What is your github accout name?

I will write an issue on fastify repo tagging you, and need to debate about below:

import fastify from "fastify";
import typia from "typia";

const plugin = fastify().addSomePlugin();
plugin.post("/some-path", {
    schema: {
        body: typia.application<[MyRequestDto]>(),
        response: typia.application<[MyResponseDto]>(),
    },
});
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At first, fastify provides plugin interfaces only through the JSON schema defition. As typia can generate JSON schema, it is possible to utilizing current plugin interface of fastify like above.

However, typia is a transformer library generating optimal code in the compilation time, utilizing pure TypeScript type. To maximize strength of typia and make users to be much convenient, I think below code would be should be possible.

import fastify from "fastify";
import typiaProvider from "@fastify/type-provider-typia";

const server = fastify();
const wrapper = typiaProvider.install(server);

wrapper.post<{
    query: SomeQueryDto;
    body: SomeRequestBodyDto;
    response: SomeResponseBodyDto;
}>("/some-path", (req, rep) => {
    req.query // -> type checked SomeQueryDto
    req.body // -> type checked SomeRequestBodyDto
    rep.send({ ... }); // -> faster stringify with type assertion (SomeResponseBodyDto)
    req.headers; // -> no type checking because not specified
});
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The typiaProvider.post<T>() function will generate both type assertion (+ JSON serialization when response) and JSON schema definition for Swagger at the same time. Of course, above code requires modifications from plugin APIs of fastify. Therefore, I need to debate about it detaily as an issue.

p.s) I'm developing protobuf features, therefore when fastify accepts typia as a plugin, you can easily support protobuf typed routers very easily.

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metcoder profile image
Carlos Fuentes

Hey! Please reach out in GH as metcoder95!

Wow, that sounds interesting. What modifications are you looking for exactly?
In theory, the fastify.register should provide you access to the encapsulated context where the plugin is being added, and therefore decorate any possible route being register through fastify.<post | get | ...>.
But please, open an issue at fastify repo and we can help you sorting things out :)

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam

Sorry for late.

I've been making guide documents of typia and nestia in nowaydays, and such documentation works had consumed much more time than what I'd expected. Therefore, could not develop the plugin in this weekend.

Anyway, stuyding fastify, I understood that there're enormous things to develop to adjust transform library typia in fastify. There are already a lot of elements to be developed, so I'm going to make a fastify plugin like nestia, which can build SDK library.

Please wait for one to two months, then I'll take interesting plugin.

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metcoder profile image
Carlos Fuentes

Please, do not rush it. Happy to wait for the results, please let me know if you need any support or similar. Happy to support you with anything!

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam • Edited

Currently, succeeded to support fastify through nestia in NestJS.

nestia.io/docs/
github.com/samchon/nestia/tree/mas...

Now, only "Swagger to NestJS" converter project is left for me. It may requires 2~3 weeks, and I'll start the pure fastify plugin project after that. Also, I'll run benchmark fastify + typia, too. Thanks for waiting.

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metcoder profile image
Carlos Fuentes

Hey! That's amazing! Don't worry about the plugin, take your time :)

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melroy89 profile image
Melroy van den Berg

So at this point I'm wondering if the benefits of nestia for Fastify can't be embedded upstream (as in making it fast by default when just using fastify)?

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sergeyt profile image
Sergey Todyshev

It would be nice if JSON.stringify function will be optimized on runtime level. And apparently this is doable.

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam

Wow, you're planning to send a PR?

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sergeyt profile image
Sergey Todyshev

It is huge effort. I can explain the idea some day :). It seems V8 devteam is not super interested in this now since they are busy enough with other stuff.

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam

Is it really possible to enhance native JSON.stringify() function?

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sergeyt profile image
Sergey Todyshev • Edited

Sure, let me give you a "strange" clue. You can take a look on history of how JSON serialization was improved in .NET world. Similar way native JS objects can have some internal methods for reading and writing from reader/writer objects (that hides content streaming under the hood). After that JSON.stringify and JSON.parse are just tiny wrapper under internal JSON serialization pipeline. But again this work should be done in JS engine (v8 or deno). Hope this helps 😄

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thebrown profile image
Saleumsack

Great article!

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carrotfarm profile image
carrot-farm

잘보고 있습니다.!

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam

엌... 태양토끼님 반갑읍니다

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam

As I've promised, wrote an article introducing how to use typia in NestJS.

dev.to/samchon/nestia-boost-up-you...

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eram profile image
eram • Edited

Hi. One thing I don't get in your benchmarks: in your Fastify code you are running with a schema validator, but in your Express code you are only replacing the default JSON parsing. How is that even comparable?

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam • Edited

Benchmark program of current article does not have request body data. It has only response body data. Therefore, if your "schema validator" means a response data validation before JSON serialization, I wanna say that typia.isStringify() and typia.assertStringify() are doing it.

Otherwise, you're meaning request DTO validation, and what you want to say is "this benchmark program does not handle request DTO validation", I want to introduce below article. Although below article's benchmark program is not measuring the pure request DTO validation logic of fastify, I think it may helpful for you.

By the way, reading your comment, I think that I should enhance above linked article's benchmark program. I'll add pure-fastify component in the benchmark pogram, so that resolve your question clearly. By the enhancement, five componets would be compared:

  • NestJS + express
  • NestJS + fastify
  • NestJS + nestia + express
  • NestJS + nestia + fastify
  • pure fastify
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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam
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guridocodigo profile image
Guri do Código

And how is the development of the plugin for fastify going?

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam

Plan to start at 2023-09. Sorry for delaying

github.com/samchon/schedules/blob/...

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guridocodigo profile image
Guri do Código • Edited

Thanks, and do you intend to support SWC?

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam

Not possible to support SWC, because it removes every types like Babel

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olyno profile image
Olyno

Amazing work! I have one question: why did you create external dependencies instead of creating a pull request to the different projects mentioned (NestJS and Express)?

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam

About NestJS

NestJS has used class-validator, class-transformer and @nestjs/swagger for many years.

Unless those libraries have lots problems especially in productivity and performance, too much time have passed and strong dependencies had been occured.

Therefore, I think nestia can't be standard feature of NestJS, because of ordinary (legacy) projects.

About Express

express does not restrict any special validation and serialization logic.

Therefore, whatever user choose, it is up to the user.

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olyno profile image
Olyno

Sorry if I wasn't clear. What I meant was that even if NestJS is buried in old code, why not make a big pull request including the Nestia parts? It's a lot of work, but would improvde the DX of a lot of developers

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam • Edited

Had tried very long time ago ToT.

I got answered that it would better to make a 3rd party library, and it is the nestia.

github.com/samchon/nestia

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kildo162 profile image
KhanhND

I think you can 1.000.000x faster with you using protobuf

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam • Edited

You must be a genius who can see the future.

Next version of typia will support protobuf features like below.

export function message<T>(): string; // Protocol Buffer message
export function assertDecode<T>(buffer: Uint8Array): T; // safe decoder
export function assertEncode<T>(input: T): Uint8Array; // safe encoder
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For example, I'll introduce a directory storing protobuf schema files generated by the next version of typia.message<T>() function:


p.s) Protobuf is not such faster as you think. I'll come back with new benchmark after the next version.

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kildo162 profile image
KhanhND

I suggest you can use option on proto file for gen code. "option optimize_for = CODE_SIZE;"

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam

Yes, current typia.message<T>() function writes too much long name. I need to make it shorter.

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tamusjroyce profile image
tamusjroyce

How do these compare on deno instead of node?

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam • Edited

Because I do not use deno, I do not know how it would be.

Also, deno does not support standard TypeScript compiler, it is hard (possible but not easy to configure) to test in the deno environment.

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pterpmnta profile image
Pedro Pimienta M.

Deno dont support Typescript?

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samchon profile image
Jeongho Nam

Dono does not support TypeScript compiler API