Why Fastify As A Node.js Web Framework Is Gaining Popularity
Fastify is an open-source web framework for Node.js and focuses on performance and low overhead. It is based on a development pattern that allows microservice-ready applications. With a small core, it has potential APIs that help with all functionalities which are required.
Fastify is a handler function that is passed to the HTTP core module.
The purpose was to create an extremely fast web framework that is very close to plain node HTTP server performances.
Though not a TypeScript framework, Fastify is a TypeScript-ready and offers support to TypeScript kind of definitions.
How Fastify is Different From Rest?
There has been continuous growth in the sector of web development and Fastify adds its own. Fastify strives to be developer-friendly with better performance without sabotaging security.
One significant goal of any project is performance, and features must be well optimized and at a low cost. Also, essential is that security is upholding. Fastify guarantees all.
Fastify has a robust plugin system, it promises load or close order of plugins and develops a zero-cost encapsulation and help users to have clean and ordered codes. This also enables users to write de-coupled code and different versions of the same plugin or with varied configurations in a different system of the application.
Fastify can handle asynchronous code accurately and also comes with guaranteed loading and close order of the plugins. The plugin system develops a direct acyclic graph, removing cross dependencies, and helps you get a different version of the same plugin in numerous parts of an application.
Essential Features That Make Fastify A Favourite Among Developers
The main features and principles on which Fastify has been created:
High performance: Fastify is one of the fastest web frameworks of the present time and based on how complex the codes are, 30 thousand requests can be served in a second.
Schema-based: When you use JSON Schema for validation of routes and arrange the outputs, Fastify compiles the schema and emerges as a high performant.
Extendible: Fastify is completely extensible through its plugins, hooks, and decorators.
Developer-friendly: With a very expressively built framework, this helps developers, without having to compromise with security and performance.
Better login: Fastify leverages Pino, which enables a low overhead logging.
TypeScript ready: With a growing TypeScript community, Fastify offers all-time support across the globe.
Why Fastify is Gaining Popularity?
The main benefits that users experience are increased speed and reduced overhead, the plug-in system and satisfied developers. To many projects, this is the perfect candidate.
Here are a few functionalities that are causing this framework to get famous.
Reduced Overhead And Increased Speed
With the use of fast-json-stringify, Fastify doubles capacity of JSON rendering, and finds a way to lower routing by a factor of 10 in comparison to the alternatives.
The Fastify server does not add overhead to Node.js core and can reduce your cloud server bill by half in comparison to other frameworks. Therefore, this increased speed by many folds and hence becoming a favourite of many developers.
Completely Encapsulated Plug-ins
Fastify comes with plugins that enable full-encapsulation such that every plugin has a dependency of its own. This results in more software reuse and de-coupling.
Also, as the plugin models are graph-based and made on reentrant locks, it can handle asynchronous codes perfectly with an assurance of load and close order of the plug-ins.
This uses a broad range of plug-ins that are already created, like that of template rendering, GraphQL support, React integration, serving static files, and database drivers.
Developer Experience
Last but not the least essential factor is the satisfaction of developers in their work.
With its stability, potentials and clear vision, this has made the task of programmers easy and fast.
This framework is open-sourced, there is growing collaboration between community members across the globe. Similar to Node.js, the count of members in Open Source communities signifies that the framework has the scope to grow, and meet the requirements of businesses and developers.
Who Uses Fastify?
Fastify is being sued by growing organizations, for its amazing features and benefits. The emerging ecosystem of enterprises are Codecs, MVLabs, miaPlatform, Geolytix, Locize and Radity to name a few.
Conclusion
Now, we can see that Fastify has created its niche and is expanding.
Fastify provides APIs to work with routes, run a server, request/response validation, and hooks, manage lifecycle, middleware and error handling, content parsing, and much more.
The Fastify ecosystem has over 100 core and community plugins that support a broader range of features.
An open-sourced software, that it is, Fastify is MIT licensed and is part of the OpenJS Foundation. You can contribute to its growth, but before that read through the community guidelines and oblige to follow the rules and necessary conduct.
Today like other places, web development in Lithuania is also considering this open-source framework as a better scope to work with.
It is expected to see that Fastify grows and brings easier and speedier development on the table, making it convenient for both enterprises and developers.