NestJS: Getting started

What is Nest?

This is the next post in a series of articles as I explore NodeJS. If you need to go back one and get Node setup and running check this one out: NodeJS: Getting started.

First, what is Nest? It is essentially a Node.js framework for building efficient server side applications. The really cool part about it is it uses TypeScript. Nest also incorporates elements of Object Oriented Programming, Functional Programming, and Functional Reactive Programming.

Installation

You have two pretty good options to install; Nest CLI or cloning the starter project.

Lets start with scaffolding a new project with the Nest CLI:

    $ npm i -g @nestjs/cli
    $ nest new my-app

Easy steps above. First, you installed the global npm nestjs cli package. You then can access the nest cli to create a new scaffolding for a nest app.

Now to option two. Installation by cloning takes a few more steps:

    $ git clone https://github.com/nestjs/typescript-starter.git my-app
    $ cd my-app
    $ npm install
    $ npm run start

The steps first of all don’t give you the Nest CLI which I consider a disadvantage. Here you are cloning the starter into a new directory my-app and then after changing into that directory you inevitably use npm to install app dependencies and start the app.

After all this you will be up and running and your app will be available at http://localhost:3000/

Inspiration and Credits

NestJS Introduction