Reading files synchronously in Node.js - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Reading files synchronously

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple Node.js script that reads the contents of a text file to display its data.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to read a file synchronously using Node.js built-in fs module and store its content in a variable.

📋 What You'll Learn

Use the Node.js fs module

Read the file example.txt synchronously

Store the file content in a variable called fileContent

Use UTF-8 encoding to read the file as text

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Reading configuration files or data files synchronously is common in scripts that need to load settings before running.

💼 Career

Understanding how to read files synchronously is important for backend developers working with Node.js to manage file data reliably.

1

Import the fs module

Write a line to import the Node.js fs module using require and assign it to a variable called fs.

Node.js

# Import the fs module
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use const fs = require('fs'); to import the file system module.

2

Create a variable for the file path

Create a variable called filePath and set it to the string 'example.txt' which is the file you want to read.

Node.js

const fs = require('fs');
# Create a variable filePath with value 'example.txt'
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use const filePath = 'example.txt'; to store the file name.

3

Read the file content synchronously

Use fs.readFileSync with filePath and encoding 'utf8' to read the file content synchronously. Store the result in a variable called fileContent.

Node.js

const fs = require('fs');
const filePath = 'example.txt';
# Read the file synchronously and store in fileContent
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use const fileContent = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8'); to read the file as text.

4

Export the file content variable

Add a line to export the fileContent variable using module.exports so other files can use it.

Node.js

const fs = require('fs');
const filePath = 'example.txt';
const fileContent = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
# Export fileContent using module.exports
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use module.exports = fileContent; to export the variable.