NODE.JS Create an HTTP Server

 LEARN NODE.JS

Create an HTTP Server

Node was designed with back end development needs as a top priority. One of these needs is the ability to create web servers, computer processes that listen for requests from clients and return responses. A Node core module designed to meet these needs is the http module. This module contains functions which simplify interacting with HTTP and streamline receiving and responding to requests.

The http.createServer() method returns an instance of an http.server. An http.server has a method .listen() which causes the server to “listen” for incoming connections. When we run http.createServer() we pass in a custom callback function (often referred to as the requestListener). This callback function will be triggered once the server is listening and receives a request.

Let’s break down how the requestListener callback function works:

• The function expects two arguments: a request object and a response object.
• Each time a request to the server is made, Node will invoke the provided requestListener callback function, passing in the request and response objects of the incoming request.
• Request and response objects come with a number of properties and methods of their own, and within the requestListener function, we can access information about the request via the request object passed in.
• The requestListener is responsible for setting the response header and body.
• The requestListener must signal that the interaction is complete by calling the response.end() method.

const http = require('http');

let requestListener = (request, response) => {
  response.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
  response.write('Hello World!\n');
  response.end();
};

const server = http.createServer(requestListener);

server.listen(3000);

Let’s walk through the above code:

• We required in the http core module.
• We created a server variable assigned to the return value of the http.createServer() method.
• We invoked http.createServer() with our requestListener callback. This is similar to running the .on() of an EventEmitter: the requestListener will execute whenever an HTTP request is sent to the server on the correct port.
• Within the requestListener callback, we make changes to the response object, response, so that it can send the appropriate information to the client sending the request. The status code 200 means that no errors were encountered. The header communicates that the file type is text, rather than something like audio or compressed data.
• The last line starts the server with the port 3000. Every server on a given machine specifies a unique port so that traffic can be correctly routed.

You could run the above code on your local machine, and access it by visiting http://localhost:3000/ from your browser. “localhost” is used to refer to the same computer that’s running the current Node process.

In our example web server, we showed you a handful of the methods available on response objects. Be sure to check out the documentation to learn other methods and properties available on response and request objects.