Rensa

Rensa is a powerful yet lightweight backend framework designed for developers who value speed and simplicity.

The Reason

One day while working on a backend server, I was wondering how a backend framework actually sets up routes and starts the server. As a result, I decided to dive deep by building a backend framework myself from the ground up.

What It Does

• File-based routing (Compose Mode)
• Structured Layers (middleware)
• Built-in Layers/middlewares
• Rensa CLI (rensa dev, rensa routes and more)
• Flexible configuration via rensa.config.js
• Custom 404 handler support
• Support for view engine (ejs)

Installation

Manual

Install the official package:

npm install rensa

Quick Start

Get started with your first project in an instant:

npx create-rensa-app@latest

Select your desired template when prompted:

• Manual: Spins up a Rensa project in manual mode.
• Compose: Creates a new project in compose mode.

Know more about the templates in this repository. Learn more about getting started in the docs.

Rensa CLI

Rensa comes with a feature-packed CLI that can help you build with Rensa.

Some of the commands are:

dev

You can start your server with hot reload on file changes with just one command. Use this command as follows:

npx rensa dev

route [in Compose mode only]

You can create a new route with a single command. Specify the route path and method as follows, and Rensa CLI will create a new route for you:

npx rensa route [method] [path]

There are many more commands in the Rensa CLI. To know more about the Rensa CLI, visit the docs for available commands.

Technical Design

• Rust-powered routing system
• Routing engine uses a trie + hashmap system for efficient routing (learn more here)
• A config file rensa.config.js which is detected automatically when running the CLI
• Uses Node.js’s http module for starting the server
• Compose mode automatically sets up routes by scanning the folder structure
• CLI can scaffold a new project and a template config file, create new routes, and start the server while watching for changes

Links

Website

• Website
• Documentation

GitHub

• Rensa
• Rensa CLI

Packages

• NPM