Status code usage patterns in Node.js - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Status Code Usage Patterns in Node.js

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple Node.js server that responds to client requests with appropriate HTTP status codes.This helps clients understand if their request was successful or if there was an error.

🎯 Goal: Create a Node.js server using the http module that sends different status codes based on the request URL.You will practice setting status codes like 200, 404, and 500 correctly.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a basic HTTP server using Node.js http module

Add a variable to hold the success status code 200

Use an if-else statement to send status code 200 for the root URL and 404 for unknown URLs

Add a final else block to send status code 500 for server errors

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Web servers must send correct HTTP status codes so browsers and clients know how to handle responses.

💼 Career

Understanding status codes is essential for backend developers and anyone working with web APIs or servers.

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 respond with status code 200 and the text 'Hello World' for any request.

Node.js

const http = require('http');

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use http.createServer and set res.statusCode = 200 inside the callback.

2

Add a status code variable

Add a variable called successCode and set it to 200. Use this variable to set the response status code instead of the number directly.

Node.js

const http = require('http');

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

Need a hint?

Create const successCode = 200; before the server and use it in res.statusCode.

3

Send 200 for root and 404 for others

Inside the server callback, use if (req.url === '/') to send status code successCode with 'Hello World'. Use else to send status code 404 with 'Not Found'.

Node.js

const http = require('http');

const successCode = 200;

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

Need a hint?

Use if (req.url === '/') to check the URL and set status codes accordingly.

4

Add 500 status code for errors

Update the logic: change the existing else to else if (req.url === '/notfound') to send status code 404 and 'Not Found' for that specific URL. Then add a final else block to send status code 500 and 'Server Error' for all other cases. This simulates distinguishing specific client errors from server errors.

Node.js

const http = require('http');

const successCode = 200;

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

Need a hint?

Change the existing else to else if (req.url === '/notfound') and add a new else block for status code 500.