Fastify – The Speedy, TypeScript-Friendly Framework

Get started with Fastify, the fast and TypeScript-friendly Node.js framework. Learn how to contribute by writing plugins, fixing bugs, and optimizing performance.

Lesson Overview

Welcome to Fastify, where speed meets simplicity! If you're a developer who cares about performance and loves using TypeScript (or is at least curious about it), Fastify is a great tool to explore. This framework is built for high-performance Node.js apps, and it does so without making you jump through hoops. Even better, Fastify has a strong focus on being TypeScript-friendly right out of the box, so you can dive in and start contributing with ease.

In this tutorial, we’ll cover:

What Makes Fastify… Fast? A breakdown of Fastify’s architecture and why it’s designed to be faster than other Node.js frameworks.
Setting Up Fastify for Contribution: A step-by-step guide to installing Fastify, understanding its architecture, and how to prepare your environment for contributing to the project.
Getting into Fastify’s Ecosystem: Fastify is all about plugins. We’ll explore how the ecosystem works and why contributing to plugins is a great way to get started.
Where Fastify Needs You: Find out what areas of Fastify could use your help, whether it’s improving performance, fixing bugs, or writing new plugins.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be ready to submit your first pull request to the Fastify project, either by adding a plugin or fixing a bug in an existing one.

What Makes Fastify... Fast?

So, what’s the big deal about Fastify? It’s all in the name—this framework is built for speed. But it’s not just about being fast in the sense of how quickly your app responds to requests. Fastify is also fast to set up, fast to use, and fast to scale.

The Performance Edge

Fastify’s main selling point is its performance. According to benchmarks, it consistently ranks among the fastest Node.js frameworks. But how does it achieve this? Here’s a look at some of its design choices:

Schema-based validation: Fastify uses JSON schema to validate requests and responses, which allows it to process requests more efficiently. Unlike other frameworks that do validation manually, Fastify does this at warp speed using schema compilers. The bonus? This also makes your APIs more predictable and reduces potential bugs.
Asynchronous everything: Fastify is built on top of asynchronous code. It uses async/await everywhere to make sure that your app doesn’t get bogged down by slow operations like reading from a database or calling an external API.
Optimized routing: Fastify’s routing engine is highly optimized. When a request comes in, Fastify looks up the route using an internal structure designed to be as fast as possible. It’s not just fast by default; it’s built to stay fast, even when your app grows.
Low overhead: Fastify was designed to minimize overhead. In simple terms, it does just enough to be flexible and useful, but not too much to slow you down. You get a lean, mean framework that’s laser-focused on giving you raw speed.

TypeScript Support

Fastify is not just fast; it’s also TypeScript-friendly. This means that right out of the box, Fastify is built to work well with TypeScript, giving you better code completion, error checking, and more reliable applications.

Why does this matter? If you’ve ever tried to add TypeScript to a Node.js project that wasn’t designed for it, you know it can be a bit of a headache. Fastify solves that problem by giving you strong typing from day one, so you can focus on writing great code instead of debugging type errors.

Setting Up Fastify for Contribution

Now that we know what makes Fastify fast, let’s get into the practical stuff—setting it up and contributing to the project. Even if this is your first time contributing to an open-source framework, don’t worry. Fastify is beginner-friendly, and the maintainers are super helpful.

Step 1: Installing Fastify Locally

To get started with Fastify, you’ll need Node.js installed on your machine. If you don’t have it yet, head over to nodejs.org and grab the latest version.

Once you have Node.js set up, you can install Fastify by running the following command in your terminal:

npm install fastify

This will install Fastify as a dependency in your project. If you want to use Fastify globally (so you can run commands from anywhere), you can add the -g flag like this:

npm install fastify -g

Step 2: Creating a Fastify App

Let’s create your first Fastify app. It’s super simple. In your terminal, navigate to the folder where you want your app to live, and run:

npm init -y
npm install fastify

Next, create a new file called app.js and add the following code:

// Import the Fastify module
const fastify = require('fastify')({ logger: true });

// Declare a route
fastify.get('/', async (request, reply) => {
  return { message: 'Hello Fastify!' };
});

// Run the server
const start = async () => {
  try {
    await fastify.listen({ port: 3000 });
    console.log('Server listening on http://localhost:3000');
  } catch (err) {
    fastify.log.error(err);
    process.exit(1);
  }
};
start();

Now, run your app with the following command:

node app.js

Visit http://localhost:3000 in your browser, and you should see a JSON response saying Hello Fastify!.

Congrats! You’ve just created your first Fastify app. Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how Fastify works under the hood so you can start contributing.

Step 3: Understanding Fastify’s Architecture

Fastify is built on a plugin-based architecture. This means that most of Fastify’s features—like authentication, logging, or even routes—are implemented as plugins. This is a big part of what makes Fastify so flexible and lightweight.

The Fastify core is kept small and focused on handling requests as efficiently as possible. Anything else, you can add as a plugin. For example, if you want to add a new route to your app, you’d write a plugin for it.

Here’s a quick look at how Fastify plugins work:

Plugins: These are reusable pieces of code that can add functionality to your Fastify app. You can either write your own plugins or use one of the many plugins already available in the Fastify ecosystem.
Decorators: This is a way to extend Fastify’s core functionality. You can “decorate” Fastify with new methods, properties, or entire objects.
Hooks: These allow you to run custom code at various points in the request lifecycle. For example, you could run code before a request is processed, after a response is sent, or when an error occurs.

By understanding this plugin-based architecture, you’ll be able to write your own plugins or fix existing issues with ease.

Getting into Fastify’s Ecosystem

Fastify has an ecosystem of plugins that add all sorts of functionality, from authentication and validation to database integration and caching. If you want to contribute to Fastify, this ecosystem is a great place to start.

Writing Your First Fastify Plugin

Let’s walk through writing a simple plugin. In this example, we’ll create a plugin that adds a custom greeting method to the Fastify instance.

Create a plugin file: In your project folder, create a new file called greet.js and add the following code:
```
async function greetPlugin(fastify, options) {
  fastify.decorate('greet', (name) => {
    return `Hello, ${name}!`;
  });
}

module.exports = greetPlugin;
```
This plugin adds a new method called greet to the Fastify instance. The method takes a name and returns a greeting message.

Register the plugin: In your app.js file, import the plugin and register it:

const fastify = require('fastify')({ logger: true });
const greetPlugin = require('./greet');

fastify.register(greetPlugin);

fastify.get('/greet/:name', async (request, reply) => {
  const greeting = fastify.greet(request.params.name);
  return { message: greeting };
});

const start = async () => {
  try {
    await fastify.listen({ port: 3000 });
    console.log('Server listening on http://localhost:3000');
  } catch (err) {
    fastify.log.error(err);
    process.exit(1);
  }
};
start();

Test the plugin: Restart your server (node app.js) and visit http://localhost:3000/greet/John. You should see a JSON response saying Hello, John!.

That’s it! You’ve just written a Fastify plugin. This is a simple example, but you can take this concept and build much more complex plugins, from authentication systems to caching layers.

Where Fastify Needs You

Fastify is growing fast, but like any open-source project, there are plenty of areas where it could use an extra hand. Whether you’re interested in performance improvements, plugin development, or fixing bugs, there’s a place for you in the Fastify community.

Here are a few areas where Fastify could use help:

Performance Improvements: Fastify is already one of the fastest frameworks out there, but there’s always room for improvement. If you’re passionate about squeezing every last drop of performance out of your code, consider contributing to this area.
Plugin Development: As we mentioned earlier, Fastify’s ecosystem is plugin-based, and many of these plugins need help. Whether you want to fix bugs in an existing plugin or write a new one from scratch, plugin development is a great way to contribute.
Documentation: Good documentation is key to any successful project, and Fastify is no exception. If you come across an area of the docs that could use more clarity or examples, consider submitting a pull request to improve it.
Bug Fixes: Like any project, Fastify has its fair share of bugs. Head over to the Fastify GitHub repo and look for issues labeled “good first issue.” These are great places to start if you’re new to the project.

End of Lesson Task: Submit a Pull Request to Fastify

Your task for this lesson is to contribute to Fastify. Head over to the Fastify GitHub repo and look for an issue to work on. It could be writing a new plugin, fixing a bug in an existing one, or improving the documentation. Once you’ve made your changes, submit a pull request to the Fastify repo and join the growing community of Fastify contributors.

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