Node.js has become a go-to platform for building scalable and efficient web applications. With its non-blocking, event-driven architecture, it's no wonder that developers worldwide are embracing it. However, as applications grow in complexity, it becomes crucial to follow a structured and organized approach. This is where Nest.js comes into play. we'll explore what Nest.js is, its key features, and how to set up a basic Nest.js application.

What is Nest.js?

Nest.js is a powerful and versatile Node.js framework designed for building efficient and scalable server-side applications. It combines the best features of both TypeScript and JavaScript to offer a robust, structured, and maintainable way of creating server-side applications. Nest.js is built on top of Express.js, providing a strong foundation for your application. Here is the official website of the framework.

Key Features of Nest.js

Nest.js boasts a range of features that make it a compelling choice for modern web application development:

• Modularity: Nest.js follows the module-based architecture, making it easy to organize your code into reusable modules. This ensures a clean and maintainable codebase.

• TypeScript Support: TypeScript is the default language for Nest.js, offering static typing, code analysis, and improved development tooling. If you're already familiar with JavaScript, transitioning to TypeScript is relatively smooth.

• Dependency Injection: Nest.js incorporates the concept of dependency injection, which promotes code reusability, maintainability, and testability. You can easily inject services and modules where they're needed.

• Decorators: Decorators simplify the creation of controllers, providers, and modules, allowing for a cleaner and more intuitive code structure. They help to define the behavior and metadata of classes.

• Middleware: Nest.js supports middleware functions, which can be used to handle tasks such as authentication, logging, and request manipulation. Middleware allows you to intercept and modify incoming requests and outgoing responses.

• Interceptors: Interceptors provide a way to perform common tasks like error handling, logging, and data transformation in a centralized location, ensuring consistency and maintainability.

• Exception Handling: Nest.js offers built-in exception handling, making it easier to catch and gracefully handle errors that occur within your application.

• WebSockets: Nest.js includes WebSocket support, making it suitable for real-time applications, chat applications, and more.

• Testing: Nest.js has a solid testing framework, making it easy to write unit tests for your application components.

• Documentation: Generating Swagger documentation is built into Nest.js, making it easy to provide API documentation to your team or consumers.

Now that you have a basic understanding of what Nest.js is, let's dive into setting up a simple Nest.js application.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have the following tools and technologies installed on your system:

• Node.js and npm: Download and install Node.js from the official website.

• TypeScript: You can install TypeScript globally using npm with the command