server.js

Documentation for server.js

Overview

This file is the main entry point of your application. It sets up and starts an Express.js server, configures middleware and routes, and initializes Socket.IO for real-time bidirectional event-based communication.

Libraries Used

• express: Express.js is a fast, unopinionated, and minimalist web framework for Node.js.
• http: http is an in-built module of Node.js used for setting up the low-level HTTP functionality.
• socket.io: Socket.io enables real-time bidirectional event-based communication between the browser and the server.
• path: The path module provides utilities for working with file and directory paths.

Important Variables

• app: an instance of an express application.
• server: creates an HTTP server with the instance of express.
• io: Initialization of Socket.IO server.
• PORT: The port on which the Express server will be run, defaults to 3000 if process.env.PORT is not defined.

Middleware

The following middleware is applied to the Express.js application:

• express.json(): This is a built-in middleware function in Express. It parses incoming requests with JSON payloads and is based on body-parser.
• express.static(path.join(__dirname, '../public/')): This serves static files such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript from a specified 'public' directory.
• express.static(path.join(__dirname, '../uploads')): This serves static files from a directory called 'uploads'.

Routes and Socket Handlers

Routes and socket handlers are imported from ./routes and ./socket, respectively, and applied to the Express application and Socket.IO server.

Server Start

The server is started by calling server.listen(), and upon successfully starting, a message is logged to the console indicating the URL where the server is running.