Express is a simple web application framework for building hybrid web applications. You can render web pages, generate customized responses and create user-friendly APIs quickly with ease. It just fits the trade with Node.js.
This post covers the installation and hello world example:
Installation:
buntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo npm install express
express@3.1.0 node_modules/express
├── methods@0.0.1
├── fresh@0.1.0
├── cookie-signature@0.0.1
├── range-parser@0.0.4
├── buffer-crc32@0.1.1
├── cookie@0.0.5
├── debug@0.7.2
├── commander@0.6.1
├── mkdirp@0.3.3
├── send@0.1.0 (mime@1.2.6)
└── connect@2.7.2 (pause@0.0.1, bytes@0.1.0, formidable@1.0.11, qs@0.5.1)
Hello World Example:
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| var express = require('express'); | |
| var appln = express(); | |
| appln.get('/', function(request, response){ | |
| response.set('Content-Type', 'text/plain'); | |
| response.send('hello world'); | |
| }); | |
| appln.listen(3000); | |
| appln.set('Hello', 'Express Node'); |
In the above example:
- 1. express module is imported and application object is created
- 2. Object’s get() method is called and callback is set to respond with ‘hello world’
- 3. When user sends a GET request at port 3000, an event is generated that is handled by callback function(request, response)
