JavaScript Programming: Pushing the Limits

Chapter 7

Express Framework

Express is one of the most popular frameworks for Node development. It handles a number of common tasks for Node apps, and streamlines the development process. In this chapter you learn how to install Express and create your first Express app. You then set up routes to create the various paths your app needs.

Next you create handlers for these routes that display views using Underscore templates. By default, Express uses Jade templates, but you'll switch it to Underscore so that you don't have to learn a new template language. Finally, you handle posted form data with a special POST route. You then validate the form data, rendering messages for any errors that occur. If the form passes validation, you send an email to the server administrator. By the end of this chapter you'll be up and running with Express, and ready to build your own Node app.

Getting Started with Express

The main advantage to working with Express is that it makes development easier. Fortunately, that also means a gentle learning curve for using Express—getting set up for your first app is a piece of cake.

Installing Express

The first step to using Express is installing the module via NPM. Since you'll probably want to use Express for a number of different Node projects, it's a good idea to install it as a global module using the -g flag:

npm install express -g

If that fails, use a sudo:

sudo npm install express -g

Even though Express has a number of dependencies, the installation ...