To check if you have Node installed, open your terminal and run:Ĭonst express = require ( ' express ' ) const PORT = 1234 const app = express () app. You will also need to have Node and npm installed. On Windows, you will want to use either Git Bash, Linux for Windows, Cmder, or some other Unix shell. On Mac and Linux you can use Terminal to run the commands with no problems. API (Application Programming Interface): Code that allows a client to interact with a server.Īs you go through this tutorial, you will see more practical examples of these terms.įor this tutorial you will need a Unix shell to run the bash commands.JSON: JavaScript Object Notation is a standard way of formatting data that uses syntax from JavaScript.A response can be many things, but the most common response from an API is a JSON file. Server: Responds to requests from a client.

Anything that sends requests is a client and that includes a server, bash script, a website. The client is often confused with the 'front end' of an application, but there are distinct differences. Client: Sends requests (think GET, POST, and DELETE for example) to the server.REST or RESTful Architecture: REpresentational State Transfer or REST is a standardized way to design a code base for easy communication between a client and server.To prevent that, I am going to briefly define a few important terms and concepts to potentially help fill some conceptual gaps. It is far too easy to just copy-paste some code examples to get something running without ever really knowing what the code is doing. It goes into depth on different ways to test your server without needing to write a front-end. This tutorial aims to show you how to use the Express framework and Node.js to get a simple server up and running completely from scratch.

Express server