Creating a server with node js

a) custom server creation

1. Set Up Your Project

First, you'll need to create a new directory for your project and navigate into it:

shell 
mkdir my-node-server
cd my-node-server

Then, initialize a new Node.js project:

shell 
npm init -y

2. Install Required Packages

You'll need to install the express package, which is a popular framework for building web servers in Node.js and nodemon a popular tool in Node.js development that monitors your project files for any changes and automatically restarts the server when it detects updates. This feature is extremely useful during development, as it speeds up the process by eliminating the need to manually stop and restart the server every time you make a change to your code:

shell 
npm install express nodemon

3. Create your server file

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

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

app.listen(port, () => {
  console.log(`Server is running on http://localhost:${port}`);
});

b) Using Express application generator

express docs

Use the application generator tool, express-generator, to quickly create an application skeleton.

You can run the application generator with the npx command (available in Node.js 8.2.0).

shell 
 npx express-generator

For earlier Node versions, install the application generator as a global npm package and then launch it:

shell 
$ npm install -g express-generator
$ express

Basic routing

Routing refers to determining how an application responds to a client request to a particular endpoint, which is a URI (or path) and a specific HTTP request method (GET, POST, and so on).

Each route can have one or more handler functions, which are executed when the route is matched.

Route definition takes the following structure:

javascript 
app.METHOD(PATH, HANDLER)

Where:

app is an instance of express.

METHOD is an HTTP request method, in lowercase.

PATH is a path on the server.

HANDLER is the function executed when the route is matched.

javascript 
app.get('/about', (req, res) => {
  res.send('About Us');
});

app.get('/contact', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Contact Us');
});

handling post requests

To handle POST requests, you can use the app.post() method. You'll also need to add middleware to parse the request body:

javascript 
app.use(express.json());

app.post('/submit', (req, res) => {
  const data = req.body;
  res.send(`Data received: ${JSON.stringify(data)}`);
});

Serving static files in express

To serve static files such as images, CSS files, and JavaScript files, use the express.static middleware:

javascript 
app.use(express.static('public'));

Implementation

set up an index.js

javascript 
const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');

// Initialize Express app
const app = express();

// Middleware to parse JSON requests
app.use(bodyParser.json());

// Sample users array (for example purposes)
const users = [
    { id: 1, name: 'John Doe' },
    { id: 2, name: 'Jane Smith' },
    { id: 3, name: 'Mike Brown' }
];

//get users
app.get('/users', (req, res) => {
    res.send(users);
});

// Get a user by ID

// Create a user route
app.post('/users', (req, res) => {
    const user = req.body; // Get user details from the request body

    // Check if user exists (basic validation)
    if (!user.name || !user.email) {
        return res.status(400).send('Name and Email are required');
    }

    // Add user to the array
    users.push(user);

    // Send response
    res.status(201).send({ message: 'User created successfully', user });
});

// Start the server
const PORT = 3005;
app.listen(PORT, () => {
    console.log(Server is running on port ${PORT});
});

this implements but store the relevant data in an array, users post data to the /users endpoint and the data is temporarily stored in an array which is used to validate the user

Implementation using mongo db

setup a server.js

javascript 
const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const mongoose = require('mongoose'); // Import mongoose

// Initialize Express app
const app = express();

// Middleware to parse JSON requests
app.use(bodyParser.json());

// MongoDB connection string
const mongoURI = process.env.CONNECTION_STRING; // Replace with your actual MongoDB URI

// Connect to MongoDB
mongoose.connect(mongoURI, { useNewUrlParser: true, useUnifiedTopology: true })
    .then(() => console.log('MongoDB connected...'))
    .catch(err => console.error('MongoDB connection error:', err));

// Define a Mongoose Schema for Users
const userSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
    name: {
        type: String,
        required: true
    },
    email: {
        type: String,
        required: true
    }
});

// Create a Mongoose model for Users
const User = mongoose.model('User', userSchema);

// Sample users array (for example purposes)
const users = [
    { id: 1, name: 'John Doe' },
    { id: 2, name: 'Jane Smith' },
    { id: 3, name: 'Mike Brown' }
];

// Get all users
app.get('/users', async (req, res) => {
    try {
        const users = await User.find(); // Fetch users from MongoDB
        res.send(users);
    } catch (err) {
        res.status(500).send('Error fetching users');
    }
});

// Create a user route
app.post('/users', async (req, res) => {
    const { name, email } = req.body;

    // Validate request body
    if (!name || !email) {
        return res.status(400).send('Name and Email are required');
    }

    try {
        // Create a new user and save to MongoDB
        const newUser = new User({ name, email });
        await newUser.save();

        res.status(201).send({ message: 'User created successfully', user: newUser });
    } catch (err) {
        res.status(500).send('Error creating user');
    }
});

// Start the server
const PORT = 3005;
app.listen(PORT, () => {
    console.log(Server is running on port ${PORT});
});

Implementation with mongo db for user management and authentication with jwt

Espress contact_backend with authentication

Go to the below and clone the repo:

setup a .env

javascript 
CONNECTION_STRING = 
PORT = 3000
ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET =

Run this in the terminal to generate ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET

shell 
node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(64).toString('hex'))"
or 
openssl rand -base64 64

then:

shell 
npm install && npm run dev

Creating a server in node(Express)

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