require express server.js
To require the Express module and set up an Express server, follow these steps:
Install Node.js: First, make sure you have Node.js installed on your system. You can download it from the official Node.js website (https://nodejs.org) and follow the installation instructions for your operating system.
Create a new directory: Open your terminal or command prompt and navigate to the location where you want to create your project. Use the
mkdir
command to create a new directory. For example,mkdir my-express-app
.Initialize a new Node.js project: Inside the newly created directory, run the
npm init
command to initialize a new Node.js project. This will create apackage.json
file that will keep track of your project's dependencies.Install Express: Use the
npm install express
command to install the Express module in your project. This will add Express as a dependency in yourpackage.json
file and create anode_modules
folder containing the Express module.Create a
server.js
file: In your project directory, create a new file calledserver.js
. This file will contain the code to set up and configure your Express server.Require the Express module: In the
server.js
file, use therequire
function to import the Express module. This is done by adding the following line of code at the beginning of yourserver.js
file:
javascript
const express = require('express');
The require
function is a built-in Node.js function that allows you to import modules.
- Create an Express app: After requiring the Express module, you can create an instance of the Express application by calling the
express
function. This is done by adding the following line of code:
javascript
const app = express();
The app
variable will now represent your Express application.
Set up routes and middleware: With your Express app created, you can now define routes and middleware to handle incoming requests. This is beyond the scope of this explanation, but you can refer to the Express documentation for more information on how to set up routes and middleware.
Start the server: To start your Express server, add the following line of code at the end of your
server.js
file:
javascript
const port = 3000; // Choose a port number
app.listen(port, () => {
console.log(`Server running on port ${port}`);
});
This code will start the server on the specified port and log a message to the console indicating that the server is running.
That's it! You now have an Express server set up and ready to handle incoming requests. Remember to save your changes to the server.js
file and run it using the node server.js
command in your terminal or command prompt.