Express is a minimal web server built on Node.js that provides essential functionality for delivering web applications to the browser and mobile devices. This series will guide you through the first steps of using Express for building your own applications.

In this lesson we will initialize our Express application using  `npm init`. 

After loading express through npm we will look at a couple basic functions Express exposes to us such as `.get` and `.send`. This will allow basic interaction via the url.

We will also see how using a package like `nodemon` can allow for rapid iteration when developing an application.



Create a Basic Server with Express

Routing is a fundamental aspect of Express. This lesson demonstrates how to define dynamic routes and access route parameters in your code.

Define dynamic routes through Express

Template engines allow you to define your UIs in a declarative manner while maintaining a dynamic, data driven presentation layer. This lesson will demonstrate how to use template engines that have built-in support for Express as well as engines without explicit Express support.

Use Template Engines with Express

Sometimes you just need to serve existing files. In this lesson we'll examine how to use functionality built into Express to do just that.

Serve static files with express

In this lesson you will learn how to support data modification by handling HTTP verbs besides GET. We will look at how to edit, save, and delete content with `.put` and `.delete`.

Save and Delete Content in Express with HTTP Verbs

Take your routing skills to the next level and learn to recover from errors, initiate downloads, and go beyond simple request and response. When we get a route that does not match we don't want the page to just error out. With `.redirect` we can send the user to an error page and display a helpful message.

We will go on to see how to download a file with `.download` and track behavior with `get.all`.

Handle Errors with a Redirect in Express

As your application grows, it's easy to end up with a long list of route handlers and helper functions. In this lesson we'll look at strategies for keeping things organized and manageable.

We will move individual subpaths into their own file by using `.router` to create an instance of the Express router.

Organize Code by Subpath in Express

Streams are a big part of Node's famous non-blocking I/O, and Express lets you take full advantage of them. This lesson demonstrates how to integrate streams into your server to improve performance and simplify your code. 

We will look at `.creatReadStream`, `.createWriteStream`, and `.pipe`  to read and write from streams. 

Use Streams in Express

Middleware is what Express apps are made of. While the term may be unfamiliar, the techniques and concepts aren't. This lesson will round out your understanding of the various types of middleware and how to use them.

Handle Errors with Express Middleware

This lesson will walk you through replacing the app's file system reliance with a live MongoDB database. We'll also use a popular ORM library to manage our database operations.

Integrate MongoDB into your Express App

Virtual properties are a great way to add some semantics to your data layer and abstract any shortcomings of the underlying schema. This lesson demonstrates virtual getters and setters in Mongoose, and how to integrate their use in your Express server.

Getting Started with Express.js

Instructor

Course content (11 lessons)

Instructor