express js folder structure - node.js

I am learning express and i want to find a good folder structure for my project.
i found folder by feature and chose it to my project so I searched some articles to learn this structure.
Now, I have some questions:
where should I put validations? i use Joi for body requests validator and I am confused about where to put the validation.
i can put it into controller and i can create middleware for validated that endpoint, which one is better ? is another way better for that ?
where to put the models, because some models like the user.model used in auth feature and user feature and etc, can I put the models in the feature folder or create general folder for models ?

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What is the best practise of using same Model on several projects?

I create a ReactJS app using Sequelize and PostgreSQL database. I defined my models on my ReactJS API, but I need to use the same database (so the same models) on an other API.
How should I do so without writing again the definition of each model, because if I made a change, I would have to do it everywhere. Is there a better way to handle this king of problem?
Why I don't use the ReactJS API? Because when I built my React app, the API disappears: I'm using proxy.
var myModel = require('./models/myModel');
you can add by require here my model is in root directory inside model folder.
You could place the models in their own separate Node.js package, so they could be reused by both.
Please, refer to this: https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/creating-node-modules

What folder structure should I follow in Hapijs?

I am having all the routes, methods, strategies, plugins and db connection in a single file 'server.js'. And this is working fine. But I want modular structure where the controllers, route, db are seperately defined. I used to modulate it, but stucking that how to call my multiple strategies in some of the routes and also how to call my db connection, the connection is established but I am unable to call it in the controllers. I am using hapi-mongodb plugin fo db connection. Please could anybody tell me how do I structure my files?
I use in my personal project the structure of start-hapiness project.
On this branch, have a simple example of a TODO list using Hapi + Mongoose and some cool plugins, modular and easily extensive!
https://github.com/thebergamo/start-hapiness/tree/dev-2.0
I think for modular MEAN application, angular-fullstack is best.

Bigger projects Node.js and RESTful API

I'm looking into node.js which really seem like a pretty nice environment. I've worked with a lot of different Technologies and for server, mainly php and Java (jsp), but dabbled in som RoR and Python.
I find node.js really easy to get up and running and it feels quite natural to work with, and I found some good entry level tutorials.
I just am missing some more intermediate resources. For example when creating bigger frameworks or api's how would you structure or architect it. I set up some smaller api's to try it out where it would go something like this:
I've made use of the Express framework to create a http server, listen to a port, set up an express object and bound some requests.
However these have been quite small, and the purpose has been learning, if I think about scaling up the size of the API for production, perhaps wanting to do other stuff like serve web-pages as well. I find it hard to see how the architecture would look.
It's vague as I am still new to node.js but I'm mainly thinking about things like if you typically keep all api in one file or if there are good ways to split it up into modules? And if anyone know any resource talking a bit more about how to design the architecture when working in node.js
Sorry for the vague question and thanks for reading.
In my opinion, Express is the good way to go if you want to build complex or big APIs.
It is among others easily testable (for instance with Mocha or Jasmine) and customizable, especially thanks to its middlewares.
For the directory structure, what I usually use is (at least) the following:
app.js : the main entrypoint. Will create the express application, indicate which controller to use for every route prefix, and assign the middlewares. Example from a previous project
controllers : will contain the controllers, the functions which will handle the requests, in the same style as in standard MVC frameworks (e.g. UserController, ...). Each controller would create an express Router object and export it. Inside the controllers, individual handlers are in charge of individual API requests, such as /api/users/list. It would use some library to access your data (e.g. Mongoose for MongoDB), and would then send the response to the client. Example (UserController.js)
models : will contain the models with all their attributes and methods. In my case, it would be the Mongoose models. Example (Song.js)
middlewares : will contain the various middlewares of the project. A practical example would be a middleware checking for an access token in the incoming request, and returning a 403 HTTP error if not. Example (AuthMiddleware.js)
helpers : various helpers
tests : unit tests of you API
This could be the minimal directory organization. On top of that, you may want to use a templating engine such as EJS to serve webpage. Take a look at « Use EJS to template your node application ».
This is only to give you an overview of what an express directory structure could look like, but there are of course plenty (better?) other possibilities. Hope that gives you a quick and useful insight :)

Which directory to put object constructors in node / express

I want to create an object constructor for a new sign up within express. Where should this be located? Within the model? The controller?
It's really up to you to decide on your directory structure. Express doesn't enforce any particular structure.
That said, an object constructor clearly seems to fall into the model category. The model should include any data structures and logic for interacting with the database. The view is just what the user sees and interacts with, and the controller mediates between the view and the model (express routes would fit into this category).
For a short example using express with the sort of directory structure you seem to have, see this. Although the example uses a mongoose schema, the same principle should apply if you are using an ordinary object constructor. You might also want to look at some of the examples in the Express repository, including a different implementation of an mvc pattern.

Can Express routes be used as MVC Controllers in Node.JS Apps?

I have been playing around for a bit on Nodejs, so forgive me if my question might look stupid.
When I setup a new nodejs app with express, I noted that it created a folder /routes that basically does what it suggests.
Now, is it ok to use said file(s) as the Controllers for my app?
I think so. Because role of a route in express is to decide what to do when a certain request comes, such as getting data from a model or rendering a view with some data and this is what controllers do, right?
You can see in official examples that routes are actually placed in a folder named conrollers.
https://github.com/visionmedia/express/blob/master/examples/mvc/controllers/pet/index.js

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