Response methods and status codes in Node.js - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Response Methods and Status Codes in Node.js

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple web server using Node.js that responds to client requests with different messages and status codes.This is like a shopkeeper who greets customers differently depending on their request and tells them if something is okay or if there is a problem.

🎯 Goal: Create a Node.js server that uses response methods to send messages and status codes to the client.You will learn how to set status codes and send text responses properly.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a basic HTTP server using Node.js

Use res.statusCode to set HTTP status codes

Use res.end() to send responses

Send different messages for different URL paths

Use correct status codes for success and error

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Web servers use status codes and response methods to tell browsers if a page loaded successfully or if there was an error.

💼 Career

Understanding how to send correct status codes and responses is essential for backend developers working with Node.js and building APIs.

1

Create a basic HTTP server

Create a Node.js HTTP server using http.createServer and assign it to a variable called server. The server should listen on port 3000.

Node.js

# Your code here to create the server and listen on port 3000

Need a hint?

Use const server = http.createServer((req, res) => { }) to create the server.

Then call server.listen(3000) to start it.

2

Set status code for root URL

Inside the server callback, add an if statement to check if req.url is '/'. If yes, set res.statusCode to 200.

Node.js

const http = require('http');

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  // Check if req.url is '/' and set statusCode to 200
  // Your code here
});

server.listen(3000);

Need a hint?

Use if (req.url === '/') to check the URL.

Set res.statusCode = 200 inside the block.

3

Send response message for root URL

Inside the if block for req.url === '/', send the text response 'Welcome to the homepage!' using res.end().

Node.js

const http = require('http');

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  if (req.url === '/') {
    res.statusCode = 200;
    // Send 'Welcome to the homepage!' response
    // Your code here
  }
});

server.listen(3000);

Need a hint?

Use res.end('Welcome to the homepage!') to send the message and end the response.

4

Handle unknown URLs with 404 status

Add an else block after the if for req.url === '/'. Inside it, set res.statusCode to 404 and send the response 'Page not found' using res.end().

Node.js

const http = require('http');

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  if (req.url === '/') {
    res.statusCode = 200;
    res.end('Welcome to the homepage!');
  } else {
    // Set statusCode to 404 and send 'Page not found'
    // Your code here
  }
});

server.listen(3000);

Need a hint?

Use else after the if block.

Inside else, set res.statusCode = 404 and call res.end('Page not found').