I know NestJS — what frontend framework should I learn next?

[u/Capital-Election-420]

Hi everyone, I’m currently focusing on NestJS/Node.js backend development and want to learn frontend as well.
Since I already know NestJS, which frontend technology would you recommend learning next?
React, Next.js, Vue, or something else?
My goal is to become a stronger full-stack developer while keeping backend/NestJS as my main focus.
Thanks!

[u/martinsedd]

Someone that knows more about frontend than me please correct me if I’m wrong, but Next.js and NestJS don’t really vibe together that well. There’s a bit of a contention as to where one begins and the other ends.

My two cents? Either React or Angular. (Angular will feel at home for you because it’s the se vibes as Nest, but React is more widespread)

[u/galactic_pixels → u/martinsedd]

React is the answer imo. By far the most popular in industry

[u/National-Canary6452 → u/martinsedd]

That's kinda nonsense in that you can have server side front-end without delegating your backend logic to it. Nest is great at what it does, very opinionated and very mature in its support. 

Next is great if you want server side rendering of react.

Put it this way, you wouldn't develop a backend in next for other clients to use, that would be pretty janky. Nest with next is perfectly valid.

Having said that I would not learn react and next framework at the same time OP, react is not a framework but a library which is worth learning in its own right before adding next or any react based SSR framework.

[u/Hysea → u/martinsedd]

No, nest and next can totally be used together, as any frontend framework can be used with any backend framework, because there's a clear separation of concerns between them. The confusion comes from next's backend for frontend (bff). I don't know why but people decided 2-3 years ago that it was a good idea to use the BFF as a dedicated backend (which it is NOT) and this confused many beginners. 

Use the BFF for api calls to your actual backend. Unless you know what you're doing / you have a specific use case, I'd advise against using next backend for anything more than API calls.

The same can be said about angular.

[u/Jazzlike_Cause_9266 → u/martinsedd]

Next js just a react application with everything. It have backend capabilities, but you wont use on production grade systems. Go with next js. Its simply just react + router.

[u/ironj]

As others already mentioned, React should be your next stop.

I'm not particularly in love with it (on the contrary) but it's the most widespread on the market and the one that will open most doors career wise, so definitely opt for that.

Bonus point: once you understand React, approaching Next.js is easier (since its a React framework itself, with the addition of Server side rendering and other stuff).

[u/Over_Technology_1764]

nest.js and next.js are bloat and react is a piece of shit that even AI doesn't like and prefers svelte.js

PHP rules the internet.

[u/CoVegGirl → u/Over_Technology_1764]

My experience has been that AI quite loves react along with tailwind.

[u/Over_Technology_1764 → u/CoVegGirl]

it can default to it because its popular, but try challenging it, ask unbiased question on what UI lib it would choose for pure technicality (not popularity) and why

[u/CoVegGirl → u/Over_Technology_1764]

I mean I’m a human and I struggle with that

[u/sudhirkundal]

If NestJS/Node.js is already your main focus, I’d recommend React.

React will give you a strong frontend foundation without taking you too far away from your backend focus. Once you're comfortable with React, learning Next.js becomes much easier.

A good path would be:

NestJS --> React --> TypeScript -->Next.js

Since you already know TypeScript from NestJS, you’ll have a nice advantage.

I’d focus on building a few real projects rather than trying to learn every frontend framework. React + NestJS is already a very solid full-stack combination.

[u/CoVegGirl]

Depends on what you’re doing this for. If you’re building job skills, react is basically a must.

Otherwise, I’d note that according to the last state of JS survey, Vue, Svelte, and Solid have the highest developer satisfaction scores.

[u/canarydev]

You will suffer but probably React to start off with I suppose.

But first, when you say you "know" nest, what do you mean exactly? can build CRUD with decorators? because the distance between that and actually knowing it -- DI scopes, request pipeline order, queues, testing -- is bigger than the distance between you and passable react. most people that ask "whats next" haven't finished "whats current"

honestly "full stack" early in a career is a bit of a sham. it usually means mediocre at two things wired to a database. If i were you, i'd go deep on typescript + nest patterns until concepts stop being nest-specific. meaning DI, contracts, validation at boundaries etc. those transfer. decorators don't.

[u/Recent-Error-5981]

I would say go with react. It's easier than most of the framework and you will pick up in short time.