Node Tactics

Express

Node.js Express

Using Express Framework

Node.js Express framework simplifies routing and middleware for APIs.

What is Node.js Express?

Node.js Express is a minimal and flexible Node.js web application framework that provides a robust set of features for web and mobile applications. It is a lightweight framework that helps organize your web application into an MVC architecture on the server-side.

Setting Up Express

To start using Express, you need to have Node.js installed on your system. You can install Express using npm (Node Package Manager) which comes bundled with Node.js. Here’s how you can set up a basic Express application:

Creating a Basic Express Server

Once Express is installed, you can create a basic server. The following code snippet shows how to set up a simple Express server that listens on port 3000 and responds with 'Hello World' when accessed:

Understanding Middleware in Express

Middleware functions in Express are functions that have access to the request object (req), the response object (res), and the next middleware function in the application’s request-response cycle. Middleware can execute code, modify the request and response objects, end the request-response cycle, and call the next middleware function. Here's a simple example of middleware in Express:

Conclusion

Express makes building web applications in Node.js much easier by providing a set of tools and features that simplify routing and middleware management. In the next part of this series, we will dive deeper into Express Routing and explore how to manage various routes in an Express application.

Express

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Express Routing