This chapter will cover the proper way of building your first Express application. You'll begin by installing and configuring the Express module, and then learn about Express' main APIs. We'll discuss Express request, response, and application objects and learn how to use them. We'll then cover the Express routing mechanism and learn how to properly use it. We'll also discuss the structure of the application folder and how you can utilize different structures for different project types. By the end of this chapter, you'll learn how to build a full Express application. In this chapter, we'll cover the following topics:
Installing Express and creating a new Express application
Organizing your project's structure
Configuring your Express application
Using the Express routing mechanism
Rendering EJS views
Serving static files
Configuring an Express session