SCS2208 Rapid Application Development

Node JS - Part 2 + Express

[email protected]
Slides adapted from Mr. Shavindra Wickramathilaka
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ILOs
▷ Describe Node JS
▷ Describe npm packages
▷ Create a simple application using Node JS + Express

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Node.JS: Var
▷ The JavaScript variables statement is used to declare a variable and, optionally, we can
initialize the value of that variable.
▷ Example: var a =10;
▷ Variable declarations are processed before the execution of the code.
▷ The scope of a JavaScript variable declared with var is its current execution context.
▷ The scope of a JavaScript variable declared outside the function is global.

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Problem with var
▷ var variables can be re-declared and updated

var greeter = "hey hi";

var times = 4;

if (times > 3) {
var greeter = "say Hello instead";
}

console.log(greeter) // "say Hello instead"

https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/var-let-and-const-whats-the-difference/ 4
Further Reading
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-var-let-and-const-keywords-in-javasc
ript/

https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/var-let-and-const-whats-the-difference/

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Node.JS: let
▷ The let statement declares a local variable in a block scope. It is similar to var, in that
we can optionally initialize the variable.
▷ Example: let a =10;
○ The let statement allows you to create a variable with the scope limited to the
block on which it is used.
○ It is similar to the variable we declare in other languages like Java, .NET, etc.

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Node.JS: Const
▷ const statement values can be assigned once and they cannot be reassigned.
▷ The scope of const statement works similar to let statements.

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Modules
▷ In node you have this concept called module.
▷ Every file in Node is a Module. Functions and variables inside those modules are only
part of that file.
▷ Similar to private in OOP. If you want to access this outside of the module, you have to
explicitly export these items.

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HTTP Module
▷ Node.js has a built-in module called HTTP, which allows Node.js to transfer data over
the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
▷ To include the HTTP module, use the require() method
▷ The HTTP module can create an HTTP server that listens to server ports and gives a
response back to the client.
▷ Use the createServer() method to create an HTTP server

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10
Path module
▷ The path module provides utilities for working with file and directory paths.
▷ var path=require('path');

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OS Module
▷ Provides information about the computer's operating system.
▷ var os=require('os');

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File systems
▷ Work with the file system on your computer.
▷ var fs = require('fs');

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16
Create your own module
▷ A module that will return date

References

https://www.w3schools.com/nodejs/nodejs_modules.asp

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-create-a-node-js-module

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▷ Create a folder name “whatsthedate”
▷ Run “npm init” in the folder
▷ Give required data
▷ It will create package.json file

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▷ Create index.js file inside the package directory

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▷ Edit your app.js file

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Node.js Frameworks and Tools
“Node.js is a low-level platform. In order to make things easy and exciting for developers,
thousands of libraries were built upon Node.js by the community.”

~nodejs.dev/learn~

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Express JS
▷ “Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework for Node.js”
▷ https://expressjs.com/
▷ npm install express --save

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-- save
▷ Add to dependencies in package.json file

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27
Express Routing

app. get ('/',(req,res)=>{

res.send("ExpressJS Hello World!")

})

▷ Supports HTTP verbs

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const express=require('express');
const app = express();
const port=8080;

app.get('/',(req,res)=>{
res.send("ExpressJS Hello World!")
})
app.get('/test',(req,res)=>{
res.send("Test GET route")
})
app.post('/test',(req,res)=>{
res.send("Test POST route")
})

app.listen(port,()=>{
console.log(`App running on port ${port}`)
})

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30
Routers
▷ Defining the routes in app.js file is difficult to maintain
▷ We can user express.Router() to separate routes from app.js file

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users.js
var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();

router.get('/', function(req, res){

res.send('GET route on users.');
});
router.post('/', function(req, res){
res.send('POST route on users.');
});

module.exports = router;

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app.js
const express=require('express');
const app = express();
const port=8080;
const users=require('./users');

app.use('/users',users);

app.listen(port,()=>{
console.log(`App running on port ${port}`)
})

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Express URL building
▷ In users.js file

router.get('/:id',function (req,res){

res.send('User ID is '+req.params.id);

});

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Middleware
▷ Middleware functions are functions that have access to the request object (req), the
response object (res), and the next function in the application’s request-response cycle.
▷ The next function is a function in the Express router which, when invoked, executes the
middleware succeeding the current middleware.

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Middleware cont
▷ Execute any code.
▷ Make changes to the request and the response objects.
▷ End the request-response cycle.
▷ Call the next middleware in the stack.

https://expressjs.com/en/guide/writing-middleware.html
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middleware.js
logtime = (req,res,next)=>{
console.log(Date.now());
next();
}

module.exports={
logtime:logtime
}

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app.js
const express=require('express');
const middleware=require('./middleware');
const app = express();
const port=8080;
const users=require('./users');

app.use(middleware.logtime);

app.use('/users',users);

app.listen(port,()=>{
console.log(`App running on port ${port}`)
})
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Templating
▷ Templating engines are used to remove the cluttering of our server code with HTML,
concatenating strings wildly to existing HTML templates.
▷ EJS, Pug (formerly Jade) are some examples
▷ As we are using MERN stack we will be using React to create the frontend

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Some useful npm packages*
1. Nodemon
2. Passport
3. Express-Session
4. Multer
5. Mongoose

*in my humble opinion 40

Nodemon
nodemon is a tool that helps develop Node.js based applications by automatically restarting
the node application when file changes in the directory are detected.

nodemon does not require any additional changes to your code or method of development.
nodemon is a replacement wrapper for node. To use nodemon, replace the word node on the
command line when executing your script.

https://www.npmjs.com/package/nodemon

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Passport
Passport is Express-compatible authentication middleware for Node.js.

Passport's sole purpose is to authenticate requests, which it does through an extensible set
of plugins known as strategies. Passport does not mount routes or assume any particular
database schema, which maximizes flexibility and allows application-level decisions to be
made by the developer. The API is simple: you provide Passport a request to authenticate,
and Passport provides hooks for controlling what occurs when authentication succeeds or
fails.

https://www.npmjs.com/package/passport
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Express-Session
Create a session middleware with the given options.

https://www.npmjs.com/package/express-session

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Multer
Multer is a node.js middleware for handling multipart/form-data, which is primarily used for
uploading files. It is written on top of busboy for maximum efficiency.

NOTE: Multer will not process any form which is not multipart (multipart/form-data).

https://www.npmjs.com/package/multer

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Mongoose
Mongoose is a MongoDB object modeling tool designed to work in an asynchronous
environment. Mongoose supports both promises and callbacks.

https://www.npmjs.com/package/mongoose

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Scaffolding
▷ Express application generator
○ quickly create an application skeleton.
▷ npx express-generator
▷ npm install

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Scaffolding cont.

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Scaffolding cont.

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Express JS Examples
https://expressjs.com/en/starter/examples.html

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Home Work
▷ Build something using Express JS
▷ Create a report/document
○ Functionality
○ Screenshots
○ Issues face
○ Github Repo Link etc.
▷ Upload it to VLE
▷ Not an assignment. Not mandatory.

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References
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/expressjs/index.htm

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Feedback
▷ Google Form - https://forms.gle/1Gk13Jzy47MwJ25N6

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 “
Thank You

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