Migrating to NX: A Comparative Guide to Managing Microservices

2024-10-28

As your project grows and evolves, managing multiple microservices can become increasingly complex. Traditional methods of manually handling each service might suffice for smaller projects, but as the codebase scales, it becomes essential to adopt tools that streamline development and maintenance. NX is one such tool that offers powerful features for monorepo management, optimizing workflows, and enhancing developer productivity.

In this post, we’ll explore how adopting NX changes the way you interact with your microservices. We’ll compare common commands used in manual management with their NX equivalents, providing insights into how NX can simplify and improve your development process.

1. Installing Dependencies

Without NX (Manual Management):

1npm install

With NX:

1npm install

Explanation: In both cases, you install dependencies using npm install or yarn install. However, with NX, dependencies are managed centrally in the root package.json, simplifying version management across all services.

2. Starting an Application

Without NX:

1cd user-service
2npm run start

With NX:

1nx serve user-service

Explanation: The nx serve <project-name> command allows you to start any application from the root directory, leveraging centralized configuration.

3. Building an Application

Without NX:

1cd user-service
2npm run build

With NX:

1nx build user-service

Explanation: NX provides a unified build command, nx build, that handles project-specific configurations seamlessly.

4. Running Tests

Without NX:

1cd user-service
2npm run test

With NX:

1nx test user-service

Explanation: Testing becomes more efficient with NX’s consistent commands and configurations across all projects.

5. Linting Code

Without NX:

1cd user-service
2npm run lint

With NX:

1nx lint user-service

Explanation: NX standardizes linting, making it easier to maintain code quality across multiple services.

6. Generating New Components or Services

Without NX:

1cd user-service
2nest generate service my-service

With NX:

1nx generate @nrwl/nest:service my-service --project=user-service

Explanation: NX’s generators provide consistent scaffolding, ensuring uniformity in code structure and practices.

7. Adding New Projects (Applications or Libraries)

Without NX:

Manually create directories and configure each project individually.

With NX:

For a NestJS application:

1nx generate @nrwl/nest:application new-service

For a library:

1nx generate @nrwl/nest:library shared-utils

Explanation: NX automates project creation with standardized configurations and best practices baked in.

8. Running Affected Projects After Changes

Without NX:

Manually identify and run commands for affected projects.

With NX:

1nx affected:serve

Explanation: NX intelligently detects affected projects based on changes and runs commands only where necessary, optimizing development workflow.

9. Updating Dependencies

Without NX:

1cd user-service
2npm update

With NX:

1npm update

Explanation: With a centralized package.json, dependency updates are managed across all projects, ensuring consistency.

10. Viewing Dependency Graph

Without NX:

Use third-party tools or manual tracking.

With NX:

1nx graph

Explanation: NX provides an interactive dependency graph, aiding in understanding project interrelations.

11. Formatting Code

Without NX:

1cd user-service
2npm run format

With NX:

1nx format:write

Explanation: NX standardizes code formatting across the monorepo, improving code consistency.

12. Caching and Cache Management

With NX:

Clear cache:
```
1nx reset
```
Skip cache during build:
```
1nx build user-service --skip-nx-cache
```

Explanation: NX’s advanced caching mechanisms speed up builds and tests, and you have control over cache management.

13. Running Commands in Parallel

Without NX:

Use tools like concurrently or write custom scripts.

With NX:

Run multiple projects:

1nx run-many --target=serve --projects=user-service,offer-service

Run all projects:
```
1nx run-many --target=serve --all
```

Explanation: NX allows parallel execution of tasks across multiple projects with ease.

14. Using Affected Commands

With NX:

Build all affected projects:
```
1nx affected:build
```
Test all affected projects:
```
1nx affected:test
```

Explanation: NX’s affected commands streamline CI/CD pipelines by focusing on changed code only.

15. Creating Custom Commands

With NX:

Define custom tasks in your project’s configuration.

Example in project.json:

 1{
 2  "name": "user-service",
 3  "targets": {
 4    "start:dev": {
 5      "executor": "nx:run-commands",
 6      "options": {
 7        "command": "nest start --watch",
 8        "cwd": "apps/user-service"
 9      }
10    }
11  }
12}

Run the custom command:

1nx start:dev user-service

Explanation: Custom tasks enhance flexibility, allowing you to tailor commands to project-specific needs.

16. Generating Documentation

With NX:

Add a custom target for documentation generation.

Example in project.json:

 1{
 2  "targets": {
 3    "generate-docs": {
 4      "executor": "nx:run-commands",
 5      "options": {
 6        "command": "nest swagger:generate",
 7        "cwd": "apps/user-service"
 8      }
 9    }
10  }
11}

Generate documentation:

1nx generate-docs user-service

Explanation: Integrating documentation generation into NX tasks promotes better documentation practices.

17. CI/CD Integration

With NX:

1nx affected:build --base=origin/main --head=HEAD

Explanation: NX optimizes CI/CD workflows by building and testing only what’s necessary, saving time and resources.

Additional Resources:

#nx #javascript #node.js #monorepo