What the node.js project structure should look like?

Introduction

In this article, we will going to talk about organizing node.js project in a structured way.

Organized project structure reduces bugs & delicacy, Increases the stability & scalability of the code.

##The Structure

|--app.js
|--api-routes
|--config
|--data
|--jobs
|--loaders
|--node_modules
|--public
|--secrets
|--services
|--views
|--package-lock.json
|--package.json

###1. app.js app.js is the entry point or heart of the node.js application

//app.js
const express = require('express');
const app     = express();

require('./loaders/network-information.js');
require('./api-routes/home.js')(app);
require('./jobs/say-hello.js');
var config = require('./config/config.js');

app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
app.use(express.static('public'))

app.listen(config.port, () => {
  console.log(`App listening at http://localhost:${config.port}`);
})

###2. api-routes api-routes contain URL endpoints, which help users to interact with the application.

|--api-routes
   |--home.js

//home.js
var analytics = require('../services/analytics.js');
module.exports = function(app, network_information){    
    app.get('/', function(req, res){
        res.render('home.ejs', {key: "You have visited this page "+analytics.visitCounter()+" times"});
    });    
}

###3. config This folder contains files that are used to configure the parameters & initial settings for application. They can be overridden & extended by Environment Variables, Command Line Parameters, or External Sources

|--config
   |--config.js

//config.js
module.exports = {    
    port: process.env.PORT || 80
};

###4. data Here you can store your small data or can use it as a local database Note: Don't store any sensitive or confidential data here, Always use secure database for that kind of data.

|--data
   |--users.json

//users.json
[
    {
        "name": "Mario Curtis",
        "city": "San Francisco",
        "contact number": "4949494949780",
        "type": "Admin"        
    }
]

###5. Jobs jobs folder contains scripts that will execute themselves automatically at a particular time Just like, Here we have created a script which prints "Hello" every hour a day.

|--jobs
  |--say-hello.js

//say-hello.js
var schedule = require('node-schedule');     

schedule.scheduleJob('00 * * * *', function(){
    console.log('Hello World, This scheduler will say "Hello" every hour to you');
});

###6. loaders loaders contains the type of scripts that will execute at the time server starts. Just like, Here we are fetching user's IP Address whenever server starts

|--loaders
   |--network-information.js

//network-information.js
const http = require('http');

http.get('http://api.ipify.org?format=json', (resp) => {
  let data = '';

  resp.on('data', (chunk) => {
    data += chunk;    
  });

  resp.on('end', () => {    
    console.log("Your IP address is "+JSON.parse(data).ip)
  });

}).on("error", (err) => {
  console.log("Error: " + err.message);
});

###7. public public folder contains all the files that have to be served "statically" (JS, CSS, Image File).

|--public
   |--css
   |  |--home.css
   |--js
   |  |--home.js

//home.css
body{
    background-color: #f3f7fa;
}

div{
    text-align: center;
    padding-top: 200px;    
}

console.log('Hello from javascript');

###8. secrets You can store all your secrets related to web application such as API-KEY, AUTHENTICATION-KEY, etc.

|--secrets
   |--keys.json

//keys.json
{
    "api-key": "HUH121NVYTB091BHHBCR121DR"
}

###9. services services contains set of modules which performs a specific task. They can be used over & over again.

|--services
   |--anaytics.json

//analytics.json
var i = 0;
function visitCounter()
{
    i = i + 1;
    return i;
}

module.exports = {
    visitCounter: visitCounter
}

###10. views It contains HTML Template files, Which later rendered "dynamically" by Templating Engine & serve HTML response to user. Here we are using EJS templating engine, You can use any templating engine(pug, ejs) as per your convenience.

|--views
   |--home.ejs

//home.ejs
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Node.js Project Structure</title>
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/home.css"/>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div><%= key %></div>
    </body>
    <script src="/js/home.js"></script>
</html>

##Conclusion Organized folder structure reduces the code complexity & increases the scalability of application.

You can find whole project on GitHub.

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