Training Guide: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 Ebook

Lesson 1: Getting started with Node.js CHAPTER 8 357

app.get('/', function(request, response){

response.send('Hello World');

});

The request and response objects are the same objects that Node.js provides. The last bit

of code to add is the statements that are required to listen for a request as follows.

var port = 8080;

app.listen(port);

console.log('Listening on port: ' + port);

Your completed app.js file should look like the following.

var express = require('express');

var app = express();

app.get('/', function (request, response) {

response.send('Hello World');

});

var port = 8080;

app.listen(port);

console.log('Listening on port: ' + port);

Save and run the following command to start the web server.

node app

When the application is started, you see a message stating that the application is listening

on port 8080. Open the browser and enter the following URL.

http://localhost:8080/

This request is routed to the function that handles the request, and Hello World is sent to

the response, as shown in Figure 8-8.

FIGURE 8-8 he express application responding to a page requestT

Adding a webpage to the application

Instead of writing JavaScript to render every page, you can create HTML pages that can be

retrieved automatically with a minimum of code. In the app.js file, replace the app.get state-

ment with the following.

app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));