Express.js boilerplate cheatsheet

-FA — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 09:34:12 +0000

This is the bare minimum cheatsheet to get express.js up and running.

Download and install node.js from https://nodejs.org/en/download/
Open terminal or commandline
Creat a project directory and change to it
Run terminal command: npm init (accept all defaults by pressing enter)
- This will create package.json file, which has basic project configuration
Run terminal command: npm i express
- This installs express.js
Run terminal command: npm i -g nodemon
- Installs node monitor, which will make sure server is restared on file saves
Create new file index.js (which is referenced in the package.json file created above)
Add the following starter code to index.js, which is the bare minimum to get it going:

    const express = require('express')
    const app = express()
    const port = 3000

    app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello World!'))

    app.listen(port, () => console.log(`Example app listening on port ${port}!`))

Run terminal command: node index.js to run it
or run terminal command: nodemon index.js to run it via nodemon - this will ensure that server is restarted automatically whenever there is a file change
Open localhost:3000 to view in browser - should show: Hello World!

DEV Community: -FA

Express.js boilerplate cheatsheet