This repository contains source code for the research titled "Enhancing REST API Handlers Organization for Node.js Microservices."
The project structure contains:
- assets - Folder with additional images and files
- frameworks - This folder contains the source code of the five services with their native routing methods implemented for comparison purposes (Express.js, Koa, Hapi.js, Next.js, Nest.js)
- proposed-approach - This folder contains the source code of the proposed approach described in the research paper
- proposed-approach-huge - This folder contains the source code of the proposed approach described in the research paper with 938 API handlers for performance testing
Open terminal in the folder /proposed-approach folder and run npm start. After a successful start a text Server listening on port 3000 should appear in the console.
Open terminal in the folder /frameworks/express folder and run npm start. After a successful start a text Server listening on port 3000 should appear in the console.
Open terminal in the folder /frameworks/koa folder and run npm start. Application will wait for the network requests and no logs expected.
Open terminal in the folder /frameworks/hapi folder and run npm start. After a successful start a text Server running on http://localhost:3000 shosuld appear in the console.
Open terminal in the folder /frameworks/nest folder and run npm start. After a successful start a full log with initialized routes should appear in the console.
Open terminal in the folder /frameworks/next folder. To run a production build execute npm start. To run a development build run npm run dev. After a successful start a text Ready in 297ms should appear in the console.
| Method | Handler | Path |
|---|---|---|
| DELETE | DeleteSatellite | /satellites/:id |
| GET | GetSatelliteSpecificDetail | /satellites/:id/details/:detailId |
| GET | GetSatelliteDetails | /satellites/:id/details |
| GET | GetSatellite | /satellites/:id |
| PATCH | PartialUpdateSatellite | /satellites/:id |
| PUT | UpdateSatellite | /satellites/:id |
| GET | ListSatellites | /satellites |
| POST | AddSatellite | /satellites |
- Open terminal in the root folder
- Run the code_complexity.sh file
This file will generate code complexity metrics for each approach. Two files will be generated: code_complexity.html and code_complexity.txt in the root folders of each framework and approach. Please check code_complexity.txt for detailed descriptions.
| Framework | Average Code Complexity | Explicit Route Mapping | Root Router | New Route Controllers | index.js Files Inside Folders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposed Approach | 1.0 | No | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Express.js | 1.0 | Yes | 1 | 1 | N |
| Koa | 1.0 | Yes | 1 | 1 | N |
| Hapi.js | 1.0 | Yes | 1 | 1 | N |
| Nest.js | 1.0 | Yes | 1 | 1 | N |
| Next.js | 1.1 | Yes | 0 | 1 | 0 |
- Install Python dependencies using uv package manager by running command
uv sync - Open one of the frameworks or proposed approach and start the service by running the command
npm start. It should start the service atlocalhost:3000 - Open terminal in the root folder and run load_testing.sh to start load testing –
uv run load_testing.sh - Open UI available at
http://0.0.0.0:8089and start the load testing - Use UI navigation to gather additional metrics and review the results
| Framework | Requests | Fails | Latency, ms (p50) | Latency, ms (p95) | Latency, ms (p99) | Average, ms | Current RPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposed Approach | 1,125,540 | 3,836 | 180 | 1000 | 1300 | 388.56 | 5925.1 |
| Express.js | 1,266,208 | 1,658 | 130 | 770 | 990 | 262.4 | 7458.3 |
| Koa | 1,825,937 | 0 | 0.07 | 110 | 170 | 16.85 | 13474.8 |
| Hapi.js | 1,809,789 | 0 | 1 | 120 | 200 | 21.91 | 13590.6 |
| Nest.js | 1,029,060 | 5,509 | 190 | 1200 | 1500 | 462.12 | 4940.4 |
| Next.js | 493,536 | 37,355 | 620 | 16000 | 16000 | 1732.52 | 2457.7 |
| Framework | CPU (avg) % | CPU (max) % | Memory (avg) % | Memory (max) % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposed Approach | 37.05 | 50.70 | 61.28 | 62.90 |
| Express.js | 39.16 | 58.60 | 61.02 | 62.40 |
| Koa | 36.91 | 75.10 | 61.23 | 63.30 |
| Hapi.js | 36.84 | 53.70 | 62.54 | 63.10 |
| Nest.js | 37.87 | 55.60 | 61.80 | 63.30 |
| Next.js | 38.98 | 51.30 | 62.20 | 63.20 |
Dependency graph for the proposed routing approach:
Dependency graph for the application based on the Express.js framework:
Dependency graph for the application based on the Koa framework:
Dependency graph for the application based on the Hapi.js framework:
Dependency graph for the application based on the Nest.js framework:
Dependency graph for the application based on the Next.js framework:
Chaplia, O., Klym, H., Konuhova, M. et al. Enhancing REST API Handlers Organization for Node.js Microservices. SN COMPUT. SCI. 6, 776 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-025-04311-8