Where should I store the port number?
In an environment variable. Use dotenv to load a .env file with PORT=3000. In code, read process.env.PORT || 3000. Never hardcode configuration values.
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More FAQs in How to Create an Express Server From Scratch
Run npm init -y, install express and nodemon, create server.js with app.get for health, add express.json(), cors if cross-origin, dotenv for env vars, and an error handler. Run with npm run dev and visit /health to confirm.
To read JSON request bodies. Without it, req.body is undefined for JSON POST requests. Add it before your routes.
It restarts the server automatically when files change. Without it, you would have to stop and start the server manually every time you save a file. Add it as a dev dependency and use it in your dev script.
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