Express application structure - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Express Application Structure

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple Express web server to serve a homepage and an about page.This project will guide you to create the basic structure of an Express application step-by-step.

🎯 Goal: Build a basic Express app with a main server file, a router for two routes, and start the server on port 3000.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an Express app instance

Set up a router with two routes: '/' and '/about'

Use the router in the app

Start the server listening on port 3000

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Express is a popular framework to build web servers and APIs in Node.js. This basic structure is the foundation for many web applications.

💼 Career

Understanding Express app structure is essential for backend development roles using Node.js, enabling you to build and maintain web servers.

1

Create the Express app instance

Write code to import express and create an Express app instance called app.

Express

// Import express and create app instance
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use require('express') to import Express and call it as a function to create app.

2

Create a router with two routes

Create a router called router using express.Router(). Add two routes: router.get('/', ...) that sends 'Home Page' and router.get('/about', ...) that sends 'About Page'.

Express

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

// Create router and add routes
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use express.Router() to create router. Use router.get to define routes and res.send to send text responses.

3

Use the router in the app

Use app.use('/', router) to connect the router to the app so it handles requests starting with '/'.

Express

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

const router = express.Router();
router.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Home Page');
});
router.get('/about', (req, res) => {
  res.send('About Page');
});

// Connect router to app
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use app.use with the path '/' and the router to connect routes.

4

Start the server on port 3000

Add code to start the Express app listening on port 3000 using app.listen(3000).

Express

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

const router = express.Router();
router.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Home Page');
});
router.get('/about', (req, res) => {
  res.send('About Page');
});

app.use('/', router);

// Start server on port 3000
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use app.listen(3000) to start the server on port 3000.