Should I use the http module or Express?
Start with the http module to understand how servers work, then use Express for productivity. Express handles routing, middleware, and request parsing, but understanding the raw module first makes Express more meaningful.
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More FAQs in How to Create an HTTP Server in Node.js From Scratch
Import the http module with require('http'), call http.createServer with a request listener function, and listen on a port with server.listen(port). The listener receives request and response objects.
A function that receives request and response. The request has the URL, method, and headers. The response is what you send back: status code, headers, and body via writeHead and end.
Call response.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }), then response.end(JSON.stringify(data)). Set the Content-Type to application/json and send a JSON string.
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