Ask EJ : What's your take on Koa?

7 up and 0 down, posted by fcambus 3631 days ago 3 comments

fcambus 3631 days ago.

I'm wondering what do you guys think of Koa.js? I find it really interesting and I've been meaning to give it a test run since it was announced a few months ago. Using generators instead of promises sounds seducing.

I believe a blocking concern is that you have to use Node 0.11 to use Harmony features. Using an unstable version of Node to deploy application in production is worrysome, but with 0.12 being along the corner, it seems to be a vanishing concern.

So, what's your take on Koa? I would be interested to know your opinions.

If you had to start a new project from scratch, without external contraints would you use it instead of Express 4?

notvitorvieira 3631 days ago. link 5 points ▲ ▼

I would definitely use it, but I would not use it as my first option for a project that I know that will soon be in production. Let me explain why. There are many frameworks being launched lately and its kind impossible to make a definitive comparison for all their benefits, pros and cons against your project needs. I'm talking a about having to pick a framework for a project that will be in production in the next 3-4 months, even in 6 months. Apparently looking deeply at your project scope and requirements it will give you the feeling that other frameworks can quite fill the same spot and offer the same things you found in Koa. I had the same problem couple weeks ago and I came out picking a more stable and well documented framework. At the end all the frameworks are offering the same, nothing incredible or fascinating. So, I went for a more reasonable option, now, this version, this current scenario. I believe that soon Node will be presenting big changes and obviously the frameworks that are not backed by a good number of users or a company will fall apart. Specially those not backed by companies.

Anyway, I would give it a try, since Koa.js is backed by the same team behind Express. If you have any doubt and still looking for reasons to use it, have a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKNqfbhv61I

@NotVitorVieira

nimgrg 3630 days ago. link 3 points ▲ ▼

Had an existing project that I wanted to shift to Koa.js but I had some npm modules which had gyp bindings and because they hadn't been updated to work with node 0.11, I stuck with express. I did make the gyp bindings work but then I had to start maintaining the module on my own for the project and deployments, so in the end it was not worth the hassle for me.

fcambus 3627 days ago. link 1 point ▲ ▼

Thanks for your input everyone, some valuable advice here. I might wait for 0.12 to be released and see how things stabilize during the next few months.