When building a Node.js project, it's crucial to structure your application in a way that enhances readability, and maintainability. One such structure is the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. Let's break down what each part of this architecture means:
Model: This is the heart of any application, where all the data-related logic is stored. It represents the structure of data, the format, and the constraints with which it is stored in your database. It communicates with the controller and updates the view whenever data changes.
View: This is the part of the application that users interact with. It represents the application's user interface and displays data from the model to the user in a pleasing and understandable format.
Controller: The controller is like a manager, making sure everything runs smoothly. It takes user input from the view, processes it, and updates the model accordingly. It acts as an interface between the Model and View components.
app.js is the main application file, public contains all static files like images, styles, and JavaScript, routes holds our route definitions, views contains our presentation code, and models holds our data models.
This is a basic overview of a typical Node.js project structure. Of course, depending on the complexity and requirements of your project, you might need to add more components or modify this structure.
Routes: Routes in Node.js are essentially endpoints (URLs) that you can visit on your website. These routes correspond to the HTTP methods GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc., each of which represents a specific type of operation to interact with your data.
Routes in Node.js are defined by using the methods provided by an instance of the Express.js application. Each method corresponds to an HTTP request method and the path argument is a string that represents a URL pattern.
When a request is made to a particular route, the corresponding callback function is executed. This function takes two arguments: a request object (which contains information about the request made, such as headers or body content) and a response object (which is used to formulate the server's response to the request).
Middleware functions: Middleware functions are functions that have access to the request object (req), the response object (res), and the next function in the application’s request-response cycle. The next function is a function in the Express router which, when invoked, executes the middleware succeeding the current middleware.
Middleware functions can perform the following tasks:
Execute any code.
Make changes to the request and the response objects.
End the request-response cycle.
Call the next middleware function in the stack.
If the current middleware function does not end the request-response cycle, it must call next() to pass control to the next middleware function. Otherwise, the request will be left hanging.
Using middleware, we can add functionality to Express apps in a modular and organized way. You can think of them like a series of checkpoints that requests go through. Each one can either end the request-response cycle, or pass control to the next middleware function.
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