restana

Super fast and minimalist web framework for building REST micro-services.

Usage no npm install needed!

<script type="module">
  import restana from 'https://cdn.skypack.dev/restana';
</script>

README

restana

NPM version NPM Total Downloads License TypeScript support Github stars

Blazing fast, tiny and minimalist connect-like web framework for building REST micro-services.

You can read more: restana = faster and efficient Node.js REST APIs

Performance

Performance Benchmarks

Where are this numbers coming from?

Usage

npm i restana --save

Creating the service instance

Create unsecure HTTP server:

const service = require('restana')()

Passing HTTP server instance:

const https = require('https')
const service = require('restana')({
  server: https.createServer({
    key: keys.serviceKey,
    cert: keys.certificate
  })
})

Create restana HTTP server with http.createServer():

const http = require('http')
const service = require('restana')()

service.get('/hi', (req, res) => {
  res.send({
    msg: 'Hello World!'
  })
})

http.createServer(service).listen(3000, '0.0.0.0', function () {
  console.log('running')
})

Please take note that in the last case, service.close() would not be available, since restana does not have access to http server instance created by http.createServer.

Optionally, learn through examples:

Configuration options

  • server: Allows to optionally override the HTTP server instance to be used.
  • prioRequestsProcessing: If TRUE, HTTP requests processing/handling is prioritized using setImmediate. Default value: TRUE
  • defaultRoute: Optional route handler when no route match occurs. Default value: ((req, res) => res.send(404))
  • errorHandler: Optional global error handler function. Default value: (err, req, res) => res.send(err)
  • routerCacheSize: The router matching cache size, indicates how many request matches will be kept in memory. Default value: 2000

Full service example

const bodyParser = require('body-parser')

const service = require('restana')()
service.use(bodyParser.json())

const PetsModel = {
  // ... 
}

// registering service routes
service
  .get('/pets/:id', async (req, res) => {
    res.send(await PetsModel.findOne(req.params.id))
  })
  .get('/pets', async (req, res) => {
    res.send(await PetsModel.find())
  })
  .delete('/pets/:id', async (req, res) => {
    res.send(await PetsModel.destroy(req.params.id))
  })
  .post('/pets/:name/:age', async (req, res) => {
    res.send(await PetsModel.create(req.params))
  })
  .patch('/pets/:id', async (req, res) => {
    res.send(await PetsModel.update(req.params.id, req.body))
  })

service.get('/version', function (req, res) {
  // optionally you can send the response data in the body property
  res.body = { 
    version: '1.0.0'
  }
  // 200 is the default response code
  res.send() 
})

Supported HTTP methods:

const methods = ['get', 'delete', 'put', 'patch', 'post', 'head', 'options', 'trace']

Using .all routes registration

You can also register a route handler for all supported HTTP methods:

service.all('/allmethodsroute', (req, res) => {
  res.send(200)
})

Starting the service

service.start(3000).then((server) => {})

Stopping the service

service.close().then(()=> {})

Async / Await support

// some fake "star" handler
service.post('/star/:username', async (req, res) => {
  await starService.star(req.params.username)
  const stars = await starService.count(req.params.username)

  res.send({ stars })
})

Sending custom headers

res.send('Hello World', 200, {
  'x-response-time': 100
})

The "res.send" method

Same as in express, for restana we have implemented a handy send method that extends every res object.

Supported datatypes are:

  • null
  • undefined
  • String
  • Buffer
  • Object
  • Stream
  • Promise

Example usage:

service.get('/promise', (req, res) => {
  res.send(Promise.resolve('I am a Promise object!'))
})

The method signature

res.send(
  // data payload
  'Hello World', 
  // response code (default 200)
  200, 
  // optional response headers (default NULL)
  {
    'x-cache-timeout': '5 minutes'
  }, 
  // optional res.end callback
  err => { /*...*/ }
)

Optionally, you can also just send a response code:
res.send(401)

Global error handling

const service = require('restana')({
  errorHandler (err, req, res) {
    console.log(`Something was wrong: ${err.message || err}`)
    res.send(err)
  }
})

service.get('/throw', (req, res) => {
  throw new Error('Upps!')
})

errorHandler not being called?

Issue: https://github.com/jkyberneees/ana/issues/81

Some middlewares don't call return next() inside a synchronous flow. In restana we enable async errors handling by default, however this mechanism fails when a subsequent middleware is just calling next() inside a sync or async flow.

Known incompatible middlewares:

How to bring async chain compatibility to existing middlewares? The body-parser example:

const jsonParser = require('body-parser').json()
const service = require('restana')()

service.use((req, res, next) => {
  return new Promise(resolve => {
    jsonParser(req, res, (err) => {
      return resolve(next(err))
    })
  })
})

Global middlewares

const service = require('restana')()

service.use((req, res, next) => {
  // do something
  return next()
});
...

Prefix middlewares

const service = require('restana')()

service.use('/admin', (req, res, next) => {
  // do something
  return next()
});
...

Route level middlewares

Connecting middlewares to specific routes is also supported:

const service = require('restana')()

service.get('/admin', (req, res, next) => {
  // do something
  return next()
}, (req, res) => {
  res.send('admin data')
});
...

As well, multiple middleware callbacks are supported:

const service = require('restana')()

const cb0 = (req, res, next) => {
  // do something
  return next()
}

const cb1 = (req, res, next) => {
  // do something
  return next()
}

service.get('/test/:id', [cb0, cb1], (req, res) => {
  res.send({ id: req.params.id })
})

Nested routers

Nested routers are supported as well:

const service = require('restana')()
const nestedRouter = service.newRouter()

nestedRouter.get('/hello', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Hello World!')
})
service.use('/v1', nestedRouter) 
...

In this example the router routes will be available under /v1 prefix. For example: GET /v1/hello

Third party middlewares support:

All middlewares using the function (req, res, next) signature format are compatible with restana.

Examples :

Async middlewares support

Since version v3.3.x, you can also use async middlewares as described below:

service.use(async (req, res, next) => {
  await next()
  console.log('All middlewares and route handler executed!')
}))
service.use(logging())
service.use(jwt())
...

In the same way you can also capture uncaught exceptions inside the request processing flow:

service.use(async (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    await next()
  } catch (err) {
    console.log('upps, something just happened')
    res.send(err)
  }
})
service.use(logging())
service.use(jwt())

Service Events

Service events are accessible through the service.events object, an instance of https://nodejs.org/api/events.html

Available events

  • service.events.BEFORE_ROUTE_REGISTER: This event is triggered before registering a route.

AWS Serverless Integration

restana is compatible with the serverless-http library, so restana based services can also run as AWS lambdas 🚀

// required dependencies
const serverless = require('serverless-http')
const restana = require('restana')

// creating service
const service = restana()
service.get('/hello', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Hello World!')
})

// lambda integration
const handler = serverless(app);
module.exports.handler = async (event, context) => {
  return await handler(event, context)
}

See also:
Running restana service as a lambda using AWS SAM at https://github.com/jkyberneees/restana-serverless

Cloud Functions for Firebase Integration

restana restana based services can also run as Cloud Functions for Firebase 🚀

// required dependencies
const functions = require("firebase-functions");
const restana = require('restana')

// creating service
const service = restana()
service.get('/hello', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Hello World!')
})

// lambda integration
exports = module.exports = functions.https.onRequest(app.callback());

Serving static files

You can read more about serving static files with restana in this link: https://itnext.io/restana-static-serving-the-frontend-with-node-js-beyond-nginx-e45fdb2e49cb

Also, the restana-static project simplifies the serving of static files using restana and docker containers:

Swagger/OpenAPI integration

Third party integrations

// ...
const service = restana()
service.get('/hello', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Hello World!')
})

// using "the callback integrator" middleware
const server = http.createServer(service.callback())
//...

Application Performance Monitoring (APM)

As a Node.js framework implementation based on the standard http module, restana benefits from out of the box instrumentation on existing APM agents such as:

Elastic APM - Routes Naming

"Routes Naming" discovery is not supported out of the box by the Elastic APM agent, therefore we have created our custom integration.

// getting the Elastic APM agent
const agent = require('elastic-apm-node').start({
  secretToken: process.env.APM_SECRET_TOKEN,
  serverUrl: process.env.APM_SERVER_URL
})

// creating a restana application
const service = require('restana')()

// getting restana APM routes naming plugin 
const apm = require('restana/libs/elastic-apm')
// attach route naming instrumentation before registering service routes
apm({ agent }).patch(service)

// register your routes or middlewares
service.get('/hello', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Hello World!')
})

// ...

New Relic - Routes Naming

"Routes Naming" discovery is not supported out of the box by the New Relic APM agent, therefore we have created our custom integration.

// getting the New Relic APM agent
const agent = require('newrelic')

// creating a restana application
const service = require('restana')()

// getting restana APM routes naming plugin 
const apm = require('restana/libs/newrelic-apm')
// attach route naming instrumentation before registering service routes
apm({ agent }).patch(service)

// register your routes or middlewares
service.get('/hello', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Hello World!')
})

// ...

Performance comparison (framework overhead)

Which is the fastest?

You can checkout restana performance index on the "Which is the fastest" project: https://github.com/the-benchmarker/web-frameworks#full-table-1

Using this project? Let us know 🚀

https://goo.gl/forms/qlBwrf5raqfQwteH3

Breaking changes

4.x:

Restana version 4.x is much more simple to maintain, mature and faster!

Added

  • Node.js v10.x+ is required.
  • 0http sequential router is now the default and only HTTP router.
  • Overall middlewares support was improved.
  • Nested routers are now supported.
  • Improved error handler through async middlewares.
  • New getRouter and newRouter methods are added for accesing default and nested routers.

Removed

  • The response event was removed.
  • find-my-way router is replaced by 0http sequential router.
  • Returning result inside async handler is not allowed anymore. Use res.send...

3.x:

Removed

  • Support for turbo-http library was dropped.

Support / Donate 💚

You can support the maintenance of this project: