How to Install and Set Up Express & Creating a Basic Web Server

Installing Express.js

Before setting up an Express server, you need to install Node.js on your system. If you haven't installed it yet, download and install it from nodejs.org.

Step 1: Initialize a New Node.js Project

To start, create a new folder for your project and navigate to it in your terminal

mkdir my-express-app
cd my-express-app

Next, Initialize a Node.js project by running:

npm init -y

This will generate a package.json file that manages your project's dependencies.

Step 2: Install Express

Now, Install Express by running:

npm install express

This command will download and save Express in your project's dependencies.

Creating a Basic Express Server

Once Express is installed, you can create a basic web server.

Step 1: Create a Server File

Inside your project folder, create a new file called server.js and open it in your code editor.

Step 2: Write Basic Express Code

In server.js, add the following code:

const express = require("express"); // Import Express
const app = express(); // Create an Express app

// Define a basic route
app.get("/", (req, res) => {
    res.send("Hello, Express!");
});

// Start the server on port 3000
app.listen(3000, () => {
    console.log("Server is running on http://localhost:3000");
});

Tip

Always use req and res instead of request and response for cleaner and more standard code.

app.get("/", (req, res) => {
    res.send("hello world");
});

Step 3: Run the Server

Save the file and run the following command in your terminal:

node server.js

Success

If everything is set up correctly, you should see the message on console:

Server is running on http://localhost:3000

Now open your browser and go to http://localhost:3000. You should see the text "Hello, Express!" displayed on the page.

Example

Success

If you've followed all the steps correctly, you should see "Hello, Express!" in your browser.

This page covers the essential first steps to setting up an Express app.

Example