In this section, we'll explain how to set up a basic HTTP server using Node.js and Express. This server setup is a fundamental part of any web application, allowing it to listen for and respond to incoming requests.

Process

On the index.js file of root directory

1. Importing Required Modules:
   • http: This core Node.js module is used to create an HTTP server.
   • app: This is the Express application we configured in express.config.js inside src/config folder.
2. Creating the Server:
   • http.createServer(app): This line creates an HTTP server instance using the Express app as the request handler.
3. Port Number:
   • Ports range from 0 to 65535. Certain ports are reserved for well-known services (e.g., HTTP uses port 80, HTTPS uses port 443).
   • Here, we are using port 5500 for our server.
4. Listening for Connections:
   • server.listen(5500, '127.0.0.1', callback): This function makes the server listen on the specified port (5500) and hostname (127.0.0.1 which is localhost).
   • The callback function logs a message to the console if the server starts successfully.

Detailed Steps

1. Starting the Server:

   • Execute the command to start the server

     npm start

   • The listen method starts the server and begins waiting for incoming connections on the specified port and hostname.

   • If the server starts without errors, it logs:

     Server is running on port 5500
     press ctrl+c to discontinue server.....
     

2. Handling Errors:

   • The callback function in server.listen checks if there are any errors (if (!err)). If there are no errors, it logs the success message. If there were an error, you could add an else statement to handle it (e.g., log the error message).

3. Stopping the Server:

   • To stop the server, you can press Ctrl+C in the terminal where the server is running.

Code Overview

Here is the code snippet that sets up the server connection:

const http = require('http');
const app = require('./src/config/express.config');

const server = http.createServer(app);

server.listen(5500, '127.0.0.1', (err) => {
    if (!err) {
        console.log("Server is running on port 5500");
        console.log("press ctrl+c to discontinue server.....");
    }
});

Conclusion