What is the Best Node.js framework: Express.js or Koa.js?

Express.js for Web Application Development

Chathuranga Dissanayake
3 min readMay 14, 2022

Express.js is a popular Node web framework.

Usage of Express.js framework,

· Integrate with “view” rendering engines to provide replies by populating templates with data.

· Set up common web application settings such as the connection port and the location of templates for generating the response.

· It use to write handlers for requests with various HTTP verbs and at various URL paths.

The npm command to install Koa.js is shown in the below image.

npm command to install Express.js

The ‘npm install express’ command actually does is, , it adds the module to the package.json file’s dependents list. Then, in the app directory, run npm install to automatically install modules from the dependencies list.

Why it is important to use Express.js for backend web development?

· It Creates a REST API server for you.

· Configuration and customization are simple.

· Allows you to define application routes using HTTP methods and URLs.

· Simple to combine with several template engines like EJS, and Jade.

· Databases such as MySQL, and MongoDB can be connected easily using this framework.

Koa.js for Web Application Development

Koa.js is a minimal and flexible Node.Js web application framework created by the same team behind Express, Koa, a new web framework that aspires to offer a smaller, more expressive, and more robust base for online applications and APIs. Koa eliminates callbacks and dramatically improves error handling by using async functions.

In order to develop the backend of a web application should install the Koa.js. The npm command to install Koa.js is shown in the below image.

Why Koa.js is important to use for backend web development?

· Koa has a minimal code footprint (about 600 lines), making it extremely light.

· Koa makes use of try/catch, which helps with error handling.

· Asynchronous coding in Koa is clearer and more readable.

· Koa does not employ callbacks, allowing for easier control flow upstream and downstream.

Koa makes use of asynchronous functions to reduce the requirement for callbacks and improve error handling. Koa’s core does not include any middleware. It offers an improved set of ways for speeding up and exciting the server-building process.

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Chathuranga Dissanayake

Software Engineering undergraduate at Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology | Tech Lover