Chapter 3. Developing and deploying a Node.js application

Procedure

1. Create a new directory myApp, and navigate to it.

   $ mkdir myApp
   $ cd MyApp

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   This is the root directory for the application.

2. Initialize your application with npm.

   The rest of this example assumes the entry point is app.js, which you are prompted to set when running npm init.

   $ cd myApp
   $ npm init

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3. Create the entry point in a new file called app.js.

   Example app.js

   const http = require('http');
   
   const server = http.createServer((request, response) => {
     response.statusCode = 200;
     response.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
   
     const greeting = {content: 'Hello, World!'};
   
     response.write(JSON.stringify(greeting));
     response.end();
   });
   
   server.listen(8080, () => {
     console.log('Server running at http://localhost:8080');
   });

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4. Start your application.

   $ node app.js
   Server running at http://localhost:8080

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5. Using curl or your browser, verify your application is running at http://localhost:8080.

   $ curl http://localhost:8080
   {"content":"Hello, World!"}

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Procedure

1. If you have specified additional dependencies in the package.json file of your project, ensure that you install them before running your applications.

   $ npm install

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2. Deploy the application from the application’s root directory.

   $ node app.js
   Server running at http://localhost:8080

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Verification steps

1. Use curl or your browser to verify your application is running at http://localhost:8080

   $ curl http://localhost:8080

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