If you’ve ever touched Nest.js, you probably had two immediate thoughts:

1. “Damn, this is clean.”
2. “Why the hell didn’t Express give us this before?”

And that’s normal.
Nest isn’t just a framework, it’s a way of thinking.
It organizes your backend life in a way you didn’t know you needed until you tried it.

Here’s why it feels like magic, why it works, its architecture, real examples, and why I genuinely think it’s the best framework in the Node ecosystem today.

Nest.js isn’t made to make you happy at the beginning… it’s made to make you happy long-term

This WILL happen:
the first 10 minutes inside a Nest.js project you’ll think:

“Why are there so many files? Why is everything named like a novel? What the hell is a module?”

But then you realize something important:
everything has a purpose.

Nest is backend for scalable applications — not backend for “I need a quick endpoint”.

Because if all you need is “quick and dirty”, Express is fine.
But if you’re building something real with:

• authentication
• services
• repositories
• websockets
• queues
• cron jobs
• microservices
• separated modules

…Express turns into a technical-debt factory.

Nest.js doesn’t.
That’s where the magic starts.

Architecture: the real power is in how Nest organizes everything

Nest uses a modular pattern, meaning you group things by feature, not by file type.

Instead of this:

1controllers/
2routes/
3services/
4middlewares/

You get this:

1src/
2  users/
3    users.module.ts
4    users.controller.ts
5    users.service.ts
6    dto/
7      create-user.dto.ts
8      update-user.dto.ts
9    entities/
10      user.entity.ts
11
12  auth/
13    auth.module.ts
14    auth.controller.ts
15    auth.service.ts
16
17  app.module.ts
18  main.ts

See that?
Every module is its own clean, self-contained little box.

This makes your app:

• easier to scale
• easier to reason about
• easier to refactor
• easier for new devs to understand

The 3 pillars of Nest.js (with examples)

1. Controllers → they handle routes

1@Controller('users')
2export class UsersController {
3  constructor(private readonly usersService: UsersService) {}
4
5  @Get()
6  findAll() {
7    return this.usersService.findAll();
8  }
9
10  @Post()
11  create(@Body() dto: CreateUserDto) {
12    return this.usersService.create(dto);
13  }
14}

Simple.
Readable.
No bullshit.

2. Services → pure business logic

1@Injectable()
2export class UsersService {
3  private users = [];
4
5  findAll() {
6    return this.users;
7  }
8
9  create(dto: CreateUserDto) {
10    const newUser = { ...dto, id: Date.now() };
11    this.users.push(newUser);
12    return newUser;
13  }
14}

No routes.
No request/response.
No Express magic.
Just logic.

As it should be.

3. Modules → the brain of the whole architecture

1@Module({
2  controllers: [UsersController],
3  providers: [UsersService],
4})
5export class UsersModule {}

Modules glue together:

• controllers
• services
• imports
• providers

They keep the entire project tidy.
They prevent chaos.
They’re the reason Nest scales like a beast.

Dependency Injection: the “magic trick” of Nest.js

This is what separates Nest from 99% of Node frameworks.

Dependency Injection means you don’t manually create services like:

1const service = new UsersService();

Nest handles that automatically.

That’s why you can write:

1constructor(private usersService: UsersService) {}

…and that’s it.
Nest creates it, injects it, maintains it, and makes it reusable.

This gives you:

• excellent testability
• fewer weird bugs
• no dangerous coupling
• effortless mocking
• cleaner architecture

It’s magic.
Literal backend magic.

DTOs: your API stops breaking randomly

Nest pushes you to use DTOs (Data Transfer Objects).

Example:

1export class CreateUserDto {
2  @IsString()
3  name: string;
4
5  @IsEmail()
6  email: string;
7}

DTOs:

1. validate data
2. document what your API expects
3. prevent stupid bugs
4. make everything safer

In Express, one forgotten validation and your API explodes in production.
In Nest, you get structure and safety by default.

Pipes, Guards, Interceptors, Filters: the “pro backend” kit

Nest gives you tools most frameworks don’t:

• Pipes → data validation & transformation
• Guards → authentication & roles
• Interceptors → response/request manipulation
• Filters → global error handling

All modular.
All clean.
All separate.

No “middleware inside middleware inside middleware hell”.

Nest.js isn’t perfect (and that’s okay)

Yes, Nest has cons:

• more boilerplate
• lots of files
• decorators may feel unusual
• higher learning curve
• feels “enterprise-ish”

But guess what?
If you’re building something serious, you don’t want “quick and dirty”.

You want:

• structure
• scalability
• maintainability

Nest gives you exactly that.

Why do so many people hate it?

Simple:

• it forces you to think
• it refuses to be chaotic
• it’s more structured than typical JS culture
• it resembles Java or Spring
• it exposes when your architecture is bad

Here’s the truth:

Most people who complain about Nest never had to maintain a large backend.

Why Nest.js is the #1 Node framework for me

Because it gives me:

• clean architecture
  real modularity
  scalable code
  perfect TypeScript integration
  easy testing
  built-in microservices
  built-in WebSockets
  great documentation
  projects that stay clean over time

Nest.js makes you feel like you’re building real, professional backend systems —
not patching broken pieces together.

That’s why, without disrespecting Express or Fastify, I’ll say it clearly:

Nest.js is the best backend framework in the Node ecosystem.

And every time I use it, I remember exactly why.