Using the Express Application Generator

The Express application generator is a powerful tool that allows developers to quickly create a skeleton for their Express.js applications, streamlining setup and configuration. This guide will walk you through the process of using the Express application generator to create a new Express app.

Installing the Generator

To use the Express application generator, you can run it with the npx command (available in Node.js 8.2.0) or install it as a global npm package. To install it globally, run the following command:

npm install -g express-generator

Then, launch the generator with the following command:

express

You can display the command options with the -h option:

express -h

This will show you the available options, including the ability to specify a view engine, stylesheet engine, and more.

Creating a New App

To create a new Express app, run the following command:

express --view=pug myapp

This will create a new app named myapp in a folder named myapp in the current working directory, with Pug as the view engine. You can then install dependencies with the following command:

cd myapp
npm install

Running the App

To run the app, use the following command on MacOS or Linux:

DEBUG=myapp:* npm start

On Windows Command Prompt, use this command:

set DEBUG=myapp:* & npm start

On Windows PowerShell, use this command:

$env:DEBUG='myapp:*'; npm start

Then, load http://localhost:3000/ in your browser to access the app.

App Structure

The generated app has the following directory structure:

.
├── app.js
├── bin
│ └── www
├── package.json
├── public
│ ├── images
│ ├── javascripts
│ └── stylesheets
│ └── style.css
├── routes
│ ├── index.js
│ └── users.js
└── views
    ├── error.pug
    ├── index.pug
    └── layout.pug

This structure is just one of many ways to structure Express apps, and you can modify it to suit your needs.

Additional Resources

For more information on using the Express application generator, check out the official Express documentation. You can also explore the Express GitHub repository for more resources and examples.

Some other topics you may want to explore include:

• Basic routing
• Static files
• Error handling
• Middleware

By using the Express application generator, you can quickly and easily create a new Express app and start building your next project.