Start by creating a new directory for your project and navigate to it in your terminal.
Initialize a new Node.js project by running the following command:
npm init -y
- Install Express.js as a dependency by running the following command:
npm install express
Create a new file, for example
server.js
, and open it in a text editor.In
server.js
, import Express and create an instance of the Express application:
const express = require('express');
const app = express();
- Define a route that will handle incoming HTTP requests. For example, let's create a route that responds with "Hello, World!" when someone accesses the root URL ("/"):
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.send('Hello, World!');
});
- Set up the server to listen on a specific port. For instance, let's listen on port 8000:
const PORT = 8000;
app.listen(PORT, () => {
console.log(`Server is running on port ${PORT}`);
});
Save the file.
In your terminal, run the following command to start the server:
node server.js
You should see the message "Server is running on port 8000" in the console.
Now, you can open a web browser and navigate to
http://localhost:8000
to see the "Hello, World!" message.You can add more routes and functionality to your Express server as needed. This example provides a basic starting point for creating an HTTP server using Express.js.