Project: Local Library Website (Part Two)

1. Express Development Environment Overview

• node and express make it every easy to set up your computer to start developing applications.
• This provides an overview of what tools are needed, explains some of the simplest methods for install Node and Express, and
• How to test your installation 

• What is the express development environment?
  • Express – installation of nodejs, npm, express application generator.
  • Node and npm – installed together from binary packages.
  • Express is then installed by NPM – dependency of individual Express 
  • NPM can also be used to install the Express Application Generator.
  • This provides a MVC skeleton. 
  • Don’t need the application generator.

2. Installing Node

• Install nodejs and NPM: https://nodejs.org/en/
• To test: node -v, npm -v
• See code in part one to test if it is working.

3. Using NPM

• NPM is used to fetch an y packages that an application needs for development, testing and/or production
• Can also run tests.
• Can use NPM to fetch each needed package.
• Typically we use a definition file called package.json.
• Lists all the dependencies.
• Should contain everything NPM needs to fetch and run your application. 
• Adding dependencies
  • This is how you can use NPM to download a package, save it to the project dependences, then require it in a node application. 
  • See npm init to create a package.json file.
  • Then we can look at the package.json file – defaults that you accepted, license, 
  • Can then install express- npm install express
  • dependencies will be added – express for example.
• Development dependencies
  • if we only want to use a dependency during development
  • Save it as a development dependency
  • npm install eslint —save-dev
  • This will be added to the devDependencies section.
• Running Tasks
  • Can define and fetch dependencies
  • Can also define named scripts in your package.json files
  • Call NPM to execute them with the run-script command.
  • Commonly used to automate running tests/ parts of the development or build toolchain.
  • Gulp and Grunt are task runners that do this too.

"scripts": {
  ...
  "lint": "eslint src/js"
  ...
}

• Can now call this like this:

npm run-script lint

• OR (using the alias)

npm run lint

4. Installing the Express Application Generator

• Express Application Generator – tool that generates an Express application “skeleton” .
• Install the generator using NPM: 

npm install express-generator -g

npx express-generator helloworld

• Will create a new express app in a sub folder.
• The tool package.json file in its root directory.
• Then cd helloworld
• npm install

DEBUG=helloworld:* npm start

On to part 3.