Express JS Creating Router to Handle Different Types of Requests

Express JS is a popular web application framework for Node.js that provides a robust set of features for building web applications and APIs. One of the key features of Express is its ability to create routers to handle different types of requests, such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE. In this article, we will explore how to create a router in Express to handle different types of requests.

Setting Up Express

Before we can create a router to handle different types of requests, we need to set up Express in our Node.js application. First, we need to install Express by running the following command in our project directory:


npm install express


Once Express is installed, we can create a new file, such as app.js, and require Express at the top of the file:


const express = require('express');
const app = express();


Now that Express is set up, we can proceed to create a router to handle different types of requests.

Creating a Router

In Express, a router is an object that allows us to define routes and their handlers separately from the main application. This makes it easier to organize our code and manage different types of requests.

We can create a new router by calling the express.Router() method in our app.js file:


const router = express.Router();


Once we have created a router, we can define routes and their handlers using the router’s methods, such as router.get(), router.post(), router.put(), and router.delete():


router.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.send('This is a GET request');
});

router.delete('/', (req, res) => {
res.send('This is a DELETE request');
});


Finally, we need to mount the router at a specific path using the app.use() method in our app.js file:


app.use('/api', router);


Now our router is ready to handle different types of requests at the /api path. When a client makes a GET, POST, PUT, or DELETE request to this path, the corresponding handler in the router will be executed.

Conclusion

Creating a router in Express to handle different types of requests is a powerful feature that allows us to organize our code and manage different types of requests more effectively. By using routers, we can keep our application logic modular and maintainable, making it easier to scale our applications and maintain them over time.