The IoT Academy Blog

Express JS – Full Tutorial Explained in 5 Minutes

  • Written By The IoT Academy 

  • Published on March 12th, 2024

In this quick and comprehensive tutorial. In this tutorial, we’ll explore all the cool things Express JS can do. As well as whether you are a seasoned developer or just starting your coding journey, Express JS will revolutionize the way you build web applications. So, fasten your seatbelts, and let’s embark on this Express JS adventure!

What is Express JS?

Express JS, also called Express, is a simple web framework for Node.js. It makes it easy to build websites, APIs, and servers by offering lots of useful tools. Express is fast, flexible, and lets developers organize their projects how they want. It’s really popular for making websites with Node.js because it’s easy to use and has lots of extra features available.

Express JS Tutorial

Let’s dive straight into the core concepts and functionalities of Node JS Express:

Installation and Setup:

Getting started with Express is a breeze! Simply install it via npm, Node.js’s package manager, using the following command:

npm install express

Once installed, you can create a new Express application by requiring the Express module in your Node.js file:

const express = require(‘express’);

const app = express();

Routing:

Express makes handling HTTP requests a breeze with its intuitive routing system. Also, you can define routes for different HTTP methods and URLs, making it easy to create RESTful APIs and web pages. In short, here is a basic example of defining routes in Express:

app.get(‘/’, (req, res) => {

res.send(‘Hello, Express!’);

});

 

app.post(‘/api/users’, (req, res) => {

// Handle POST request logic here

});

Middleware:

Middleware functions are at the heart of Express JS. They are functions that have access to the request and response objects and can modify them or perform additional tasks before passing control to the next middleware function. Express comes with a plethora of built-in middleware functions, such as logging, error handling, and authentication. You can also create custom middleware to suit your application’s specific needs.

// Custom middleware example

app.use((req, res, next) => {

console.log(‘Time:’, Date.now());

next();

});

View Engines:

Express seamlessly integrates with various templating engines, such as EJS, Pug, and Handlebars, allowing you to generate dynamic HTML pages effortlessly. Here’s how you can set up EJS as the view engine in Express:

app.set(‘view engine’, ‘ejs’);

And render dynamic content in your views:

app.get(‘/profile’, (req, res) => {

res.render(‘profile’, { username: ‘John Doe’ });

});

Static Files:

Express simplifies serving static files, such as CSS, JavaScript, and images, by using the built-in `express.static` middleware. Therefore, you just need to specify the directory containing your static assets, and Express will take care of the rest:

app.use(express.static(‘public’));

Error Handling:

Error handling is crucial in any web application. Express provides a robust error-handling mechanism through middleware functions. As well as you can create error-handling middleware to catch and process errors that occur during the execution of your application:

app.use((err, req, res, next) => {

console.error(err.stack);

res.status(500).send(‘Something went wrong!’);

});

Features of Express JS

Express.js offers a variety of powerful features that simplify web development:

  • Routing: Express makes it easy to manage website requests by providing a flexible and easy-to-understand routing system.
  • Middleware: Express can do extra tasks like logging, and checking if someone is allowed to access something. As well as dealing with errors, using something called middleware functions.
  • Templating Engines: Express easily works with tools like EJS and Pug to create dynamic content on websites.
  • Static File Serving: Express makes it easy to show things like stylesheets and JavaScript files on websites. As well as using a built-in tool called `express.static`.
  • Error Handling: Express has strong ways to deal with mistakes in your code using something called middleware. Therefore it helps to make sure your website works well and doesn’t break easily.

Use of Express JS

Express JS is really useful for making websites and APIs. Because it helps manage how information gets sent back and forth on the internet. It’s also good for making the server-side part of web applications, where it deals with requests and responses smoothly. With tools like EJS or Pug, it’s easy to make dynamic web pages. As well as it can also handle things like CSS and JavaScript files easily. Express JS makes it simple to create websites and web applications that work well and have lots of features.

Express JS Projects

People use Express JS in many real-world projects. Like making online stores where it helps manage products and payments. Also, express JS examples are social media apps where it handle user profiles and posts. It’s also good for making websites where people can write and share content, like blogs or content management systems. Plus, developers use it to create the part of websites that communicate with other apps. Like mobile apps or other websites, making sure they can talk to each other smoothly. Overall, Express JS helps developers make websites and apps that are safe. As well as works well, and has lots of cool features for different kinds of businesses.

Conclusion

In conclusion, just for five minutes, you’ve learned a lot about Express JS, a powerful tool for building websites. Whether you’re new to coding or have been doing it for a while, Express JS can help you make websites that are strong, flexible, and full of cool features. So, why wait? Start using Express JS today and see what you can create!

Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is ExpressJS vs Node.js?

Ans. Node.js runs JavaScript code outside the browser. ExpressJS is a framework for Node.js that helps build web applications by providing useful tools. So, Node.js is like the foundation, and ExpressJS is like the toolbox for building websites with JavaScript.

Q. Is ExpressJS full stack?

Ans. Generally, people use ExpressJS with other tools like React JS or Angular JS for the front end. AS well as databases like MongoDB or MySQL for the back-end to make full-stack applications. In short, ExpressJS handles the server-side part. It is often used in full-stack development with other technologies.

About The Author:

The IoT Academy as a reputed ed-tech training institute is imparting online / Offline training in emerging technologies such as Data Science, Machine Learning, IoT, Deep Learning, and more. We believe in making revolutionary attempt in changing the course of making online education accessible and dynamic.

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