---
title: "Discussion on \"Better Backend DX: Fastify + ESBuild = ⚡️\" | Hashnode"
description: "Discussion on \"Better Backend DX: Fastify + ESBuild = ⚡️\". Hi! I'm David Peng👋, you can find me on Twitter: @davipon.\nI'm currently working on an internal legacy project which I mentioned in my old blog post: \"Supercharge Web DX in Svelte Way\".\nI built a back-end service from scratch in the past few months,..."
url: "https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4"
---

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Discussion

# [Better Backend DX: Fastify + ESBuild = ⚡️](https://davipon.hashnode.dev/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=feed)

Hi! I'm David Peng👋, you can find me on Twitter: @davipon. I'm currently working on an internal legacy project which I mentioned in my old blog post: "Supercharge Web DX in Svelte Way". I built a back-end service from scratch in the past few months,...

May 9, 2022 · 8 min read · davipon.hashnode.dev  
Updated May 20, 2022  
Read the article

-   [#thw-web-apps](https://hashnode.com/tag/thw-web-apps)
-   [#backend](https://hashnode.com/tag/backend)
-   [#developer-tools](https://hashnode.com/tag/developer-tools)
-   [#nodejs](https://hashnode.com/tag/nodejs)
-   [#rest-api](https://hashnode.com/tag/rest-api)

## Written by

[David Peng](https://hashnode.com/@davipon)

@davipon · Taipei, Taiwan

  
[View profile](https://hashnode.com/@davipon)

Engineering Lead @dipp

Love Web Technologies, Product Management, and Data Visualization. Building products that enable people to be more creative & productive.

## Responses 7

Markdown supported · ⌘↵ to post

[Claudio Bartoli](https://hashnode.com/@bartoli)

[Oct 28, 2022](https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4/comment/635bd88a93b35e2fb5d8161a)

Splendid work, thanks for sharing!

I like to bundle/minify the production code for the same your reasons.

I've checked out your code from the repo and I noticed that the build directory cannot be renamed.

```
# works
$ node build

# attempt 1 - does not work
$ mv build my-app
$ node my-app

# attempt 2 - does not work
$ cd build
$ node .
```

Any ideas to build the application, than move artifacts and run without any prefix ?

[wkrueger](https://hashnode.com/@wkrueger)

[Jun 11, 2022](https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4/comment/62a4ce6b165482d2b3eec0d3)

Nest.js also has a recipe for using HMR with webpack.

IMHO using a new-generation bundler will make very little difference, since the gains come from using HMR or not. All bundlers still have to use typescript.

[David Peng](https://hashnode.com/@davipon)

[Jun 12, 2022](https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4/comment/62a4ce6b165482d2b3eec0d3#reply-62a54cab165482d2b3eecae9)

If using pure JavaScript to build a node app, yes, what we can gain from the modern bundler is very little.

But if you're using TypeScript, a transpiling/ building step is unavoidable. That's where the modern bundlers shine.

What `nodemon` + `esbuild` (or `swc`) does is transpiling your entire codebase superfast and start your server whenever a code change.

HMR could help accelerate the feedback loop if we have a considerable backend codebase, even if we've replaced `babel`/ `tsc` with `esbuild`/ `swc`.

[Andrew Baisden](https://hashnode.com/@andrewbaisden)

[May 12, 2022](https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4/comment/627d61c72621acd3b1ff2712)

Great read thanks for sharing your experience [David Peng](https://hashnode.com/@davipon).

[David Peng](https://hashnode.com/@davipon)

[May 13, 2022](https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4/comment/627d61c72621acd3b1ff2712#reply-627e59a501c71be2bfdff353)

Thanks, Andrew. I love your recent article as well👏

[Eleftheria Batsou](https://hashnode.com/@eleftheriabatsou)

[May 10, 2022](https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4/comment/627a1ada2457f4a3d5744e5e)

Great work [David Peng](https://hashnode.com/@davipon)!

[Keshav Malik](https://hashnode.com/@theinfosecguy)

[May 9, 2022](https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4/comment/62796844076291997b765b71)

Reading this was really amazing! 💯

[Diego Ballesteros (Relatable Code)](https://hashnode.com/@diegoballesteros)

[May 9, 2022](https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4/comment/62794b247f98319956cd315b)

Thanks for sharing! Really been loving everything that uses esbuild.

[Randy Knight](https://hashnode.com/@RandyKnight)

[May 9, 2022](https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4/comment/6279354d076291997b76547f)

This is great info about your backend dev experience. 😎 Thanks for sharing 🔥

[David Peng](https://hashnode.com/@davipon)

[May 9, 2022](https://hashnode.com/posts/better-backend-dx-fastify-esbuild/62792260076291997b7651b4/comment/6279354d076291997b76547f#reply-627938f6076291997b76554b)

Hi [Randy Knight](https://hashnode.com/@RandyKnight), hope you find the content helpful 😉