As Easy As Possible: Express.js Install and Basic Setup

Express.js is a popular web application framework for Node.js, known for its minimalistic approach and flexibility. In this article, we will guide you through the process of installing Express.js and setting up a basic application.

Install Node.js

Before we can install Express.js, we need to have Node.js installed on our system. Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript on the server-side. You can download and install Node.js from the official website: https://nodejs.org.

Install Express.js

Once you have Node.js installed, you can use npm (Node Package Manager) to install Express.js. Open your terminal or command prompt and run the following command:
npm install express
This will install Express.js and its dependencies in your project folder.

Create a Basic Express.js Application

Now that Express.js is installed, let’s create a basic application. Create a new file called app.js in your project folder and add the following code:

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

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

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
});
      

This code creates a simple Express.js application that listens on port 3000 and responds with “Hello, Express!” when you visit the homepage.

Run the Application

To run the application, go to your terminal or command prompt and navigate to your project folder. Then run the following command:
node app.js
This will start the Express.js server, and you can visit http://localhost:3000 in your web browser to see the “Hello, Express!” message.

Conclusion

In this article, we have covered the basics of installing and setting up a simple Express.js application. Express.js is a powerful and flexible framework that allows you to build web applications with ease. We hope this article has helped you get started with Express.js and that you can now explore its features and capabilities further.