How to set up basic routing with Express

Routing refers to setting up responses to client requests at designated endpoints.

For example, a clothing site could have endpoints /shoes, /tees, and /pants. The client could request data from these endpoints through a URI, like example.com + [endpoint], and an HTTP request method (GET, POST, etc.). The default request method is GET.

When a web application receives a request, it can send a file or serve up a webpage as a response.

Below is the default structure of a route in Express:

app.METHOD(PATH, HANDLER)

  • app is an instance of Express

  • METHOD is an HTTP express method

  • PATH is the endpoint

  • HANDLER is the function executed when a request is received from the path

Hello world application

const express = require('express')

const app = express()

const port = 3000



app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello World!'))



app.listen(port, () => console.log(`Example app listening at http://localhost:${port}`))

  • Requires the express module and puts it in a variable (line 1)

  • Calls the express function and creates an instance of the Express application to the app variable (line 2)

  • Creates a variable port equal to 3000 (line 3)

  • App starts server and listens for connections to port 3000 (line 7)

  • Listens for requests to the the root URL / and sends the response “Hello World!” (line 5)

To see the output on a local browser, run the app with the command node app.js. Then, load http://localhost:3000/ in a browser to see the output.

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