ExpressJS Starter Template

Quick starter template on using ExpressJS

Getting started

To use this template, you should have the following installed on your computer or server.

• NodeJS and NPM (latest version is recommended)
• Docker and Docker compose (optional if you want to use it in a docker container)

Installing and running

Run these commands to install the packages and run the server.

npm install # install the needed packages
npm start # start the server

If you want, you may run the server in development mode. This can done using the command below.

npm run dev # starts the server using nodemon

Note

Nodemon can be used if you are running the server in a development environment. This can be useful if you are making a change to your server. If you need more information on what nodemon can be used for, check the documentation website here to learn more.

FAQ

Q: The server port in the app.js file is in use. What do I do to fix this?

A: If the port included in the app.js is in use by another program, you may change it to one that is free and open. You may change it by editing the PORT variable in your environment file. Ensure that you have created it as .env in the root directory. Below is an example on how it will look like.

PORT=9000

Q: I want to use HTML files with this. What can I do to make this happen?

A: Just add any HTML files into the public folder. Make sure that you have created the public folder within the root directory. You can also add other static files such as a style sheet or a javascript file if you want.

Q: Can I use view engines with this?

A: Yes you can. View engines such as EJS or HBS are the best out there but you may use other engines if you want. Make sure you create the views folder in the root directory and then add all of your template files there.

Q: Where do I find some reference on using ExpressJS?

A: expressjs.com

Q: How can I add routes like a about page to my server?

A: To add a route, here's an route example that you can use..

app.get('/about', function(req, res) {
  res.send('This is your about page!')
})

Q: Is there other types of responses like JSON included that I can use?

A: Yes there is. If you wanted to have your route responded as a JSON, here's a route example that might help you out. Check the documentation site for more response types if you want to learn more about them.

app.get('/json', function(req, res) {
  res.json({"status": 200, "message": "Hello world! This is a JSON response!"})
})

Q: Can I use a database server such as SQLite or MySQL with this?

A: Yes you can. You can use any database server with it, as long if their is an npm package for what ever you're using. I recommend using sequelize because it's very easy to setup and can use any database server it's compatible with. When you setup your database connection settings, make sure you have them set in your environment file so that other users won't be able to hack into your database server and change what you have in it. Note that the enviroment file is ignored when pushing your changes, so you shouldn't worry about it being public to anyone who looks at your source code.

Questions or issues

If have any questions or want to file an issue on something about this template, please do so using the GitHub issue system. Note that I might not respond in time, so you should wait till I'm available to help you out.

To-do

• Add instructions for using docker with this
• Add the files needed for using docker with this