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Learn the basics of setting up a server with Express.
Deploying Express
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In this video, I'll teach you how to
setup an Express server from scratch.
0:00
Here's the app it has one page and
it says, I love Treehouse!
0:05
And that's it believe it or not,
0:10
this simple app contains all the basic
components of an Express application.
0:12
Express sets up its server, a server is
a program that runs on a remote computer.
0:19
Its job is to wait for
HTTP requests from clients.
0:25
Request is a technical term for
0:30
what is happening when you
type in a URL into a browser.
0:32
Your browser is making a request to
a server at the URL address you typed in.
0:36
When a browser, or client,
makes an HTTP request to the server,
0:43
the service brings into action
putting together a response.
0:48
The development process requires you,
0:53
the developer, to test and
build a web application.
0:55
It's usually much easier to run an
application server on your local machine.
1:00
This means you'll have both a server and
a client on your computer.
1:05
You'll use a browser to test
the server in one window, for example.
1:10
And then see the server
respond in another.
1:14
Later, when your ready to make your
application available to the public.
1:19
You'll need to deploy it to a remote
server, where other people can visit it.
1:23
Deploying a web application is
beyond the scope of this course.
1:29
But check the teacher's notes for
more information.
1:32
Let's set up the express server now.
1:37
Here's my text editor with the code
I left off in the last video.
1:39
We have already required
the Express module and
1:44
assigned it to the variable Express.
1:47
Let's create our app.
1:50
To create an Express application
we can just call express.
1:52
The express function returns
an Express application.
1:58
Let's assign the Express application
to a new variable called, app.
2:03
This app is the central
part of our application.
2:10
We'll extend it throughout this course
by adding routes, middleware, and
2:13
other settings.
2:18
The first thing we're going to do
is setup the development server
2:19
using the listen method.
2:23
I can give this one parameter
which is the port number 3000.
2:25
Believe it or not, we have an Express app.
2:30
This code will create a server, and when I
run it, the server will run on my machine.
2:35
And I can send it requests through
a special URL called localhost.
2:41
Let's see what this looks like.
2:46
I could start the app
by running node app.js.
2:48
The prompt is gone because the server
is busy listening for requests.
2:53
Now in my browser,
I can type localhost and
2:58
then specify the port:3000 and hit Return.
3:02
I can see an error message from Express.
3:07
This is a good sign because it
means that Express is running and
3:10
it's sending a response.
3:14
The error is coming from the fact that I
3:16
have not told Express how to
respond to any requests yet.
3:19
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