Routing requests manually in Node.js - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Routing requests manually

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple Node.js server that handles different web page requests manually without using any routing libraries.This is like being a traffic controller who directs cars (requests) to the right destination (response) based on the road signs (URL paths).

🎯 Goal: Create a Node.js server that listens on port 3000 and responds with different messages for the paths /, /about, and /contact. For any other path, respond with a 404 message.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a basic HTTP server using Node.js http module

Add a variable to store the port number 3000

Use if statements to check the request URL and send different responses

Send a 404 response for unknown paths

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Manual routing is the foundation of web servers. Understanding it helps you grasp how frameworks like Express work behind the scenes.

💼 Career

Many backend jobs require knowledge of how HTTP servers handle requests and routes, even if you use frameworks. This skill helps in debugging and customizing server behavior.

1

Create a basic HTTP server

Write code to import the http module and create a server using http.createServer that takes req and res parameters. For now, respond with "Hello World" for every request.

Node.js

const http = require('http');

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use require('http') to import the module. Then create the server with http.createServer((req, res) => { ... }).

2

Add a port variable

Create a constant variable called port and set it to 3000.

Node.js

const http = require('http');

// Your code here

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.statusCode = 200;
  res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
  res.end('Hello World');
});

Need a hint?

Use const port = 3000; to store the port number.

3

Add routing logic for different paths

Inside the server callback, use if statements to check req.url. If it is "/", respond with "Home Page". If it is "/about", respond with "About Page". If it is "/contact", respond with "Contact Page". For any other URL, respond with "Page Not Found" and set status code to 404.

Node.js

const http = require('http');

const port = 3000;

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  // Your code here
});

Need a hint?

Use if and else if to check req.url and respond accordingly.

4

Start the server listening on the port

Add code to make the server listen on the port variable. Use server.listen(port).

Node.js

const http = require('http');

const port = 3000;

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  if (req.url === '/') {
    res.statusCode = 200;
    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
    res.end('Home Page');
  } else if (req.url === '/about') {
    res.statusCode = 200;
    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
    res.end('About Page');
  } else if (req.url === '/contact') {
    res.statusCode = 200;
    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
    res.end('Contact Page');
  } else {
    res.statusCode = 404;
    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
    res.end('Page Not Found');
  }
});

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use server.listen(port); to start the server.