HTTP Module

HTTP Module

The http module allows Node.js to transfer data over the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It can be used to create a web server.

Create a Simple Server

const http = require('http');

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  if (req.url === '/') {
    res.end('Welcome to our home page');
  } else if (req.url === '/about') {
    res.end('Here is our short history');
  } else {
    res.end(`
      <h1>Oops!</h1>
      <p>We can't seem to find the page you are looking for</p>
      <a href="/">back home</a>
    `);
  }
});

server.listen(5000, () => {
  console.log('Server is listening on port 5000...');
});

How it works:

• http.createServer() takes a callback function with req (request) and res (response) objects.
• req.url lets you handle different routes.
• res.end() sends the final content back to the browser.

[!NOTE] While the built-in http module is powerful, most developers use Express.js for more complex web applications as it simplifies routing and middleware.