How to properly organize routes in ExpressJS? - node.js

Question

I'm developing my first test application on NodeJS and encountered the following problem: i can't figure out how to properly organize routes in ExpressJS framework. For example i want to do registration, so i create route like:
app.get('/registration', function (request, response) {
if (request.body.user.email && request.body.user.password) {
var user = new User();
var result = user.createNew(request.body.user.email, request.body.user.email);
// do stuff...
}
response.render('registration.html', config);
});
User function looks like this (not the final):
function User() {
var userSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
'email': {
'type': String,
'required': true,
'lowercase': true,
'index': { 'unique': true }
},
'password': {
'type': String,
'required': true
}
});
var userModel = mongoose.model('users', userSchema);
this.createNew = function(email, password) {
var new_user = new users({'email': email, 'password': password});
new_user.save(function(err){
console.log('Save function');
if (err)
return false;
return true;
});
}
}
I try to do a bit of structured applications like MVC. The problem is that the save method is asynch and each time i registrate new user get registration.html without waiting for the result.
Basically i need to run route callback in save callback, but how to do this in the right way i can't figure out by myself...

Answer 1

this.createNew = function(email, password, callback) {
var new_user = new users({'email': email, 'password': password});
new_user.save(function(err){
console.log('Save function');
if (err)
// return false;
callback (false);
else
//return true;
callback (true);
});
}
I find that whenever I'm using some module (db for example) and it's using a callback, I will often have to also use a callback for any function I wrap around it (unless I don't care about the results).
Here:
app.get('/registration', function (request, response) {
if (request.body.user.email && request.body.user.password) {
var user = new User();
// var result = user.createNew(request.body.user.email, request.body.user.email);
user.createNew(request.body.user.email, request.body.user.email, function (results) {
// do something with results (will be true or false)
// not sure why you have this with the actual registration stuff,
// but it's your site. :)
response.render('registration.html', config);
});
}
});
Also, you might want to put your object methods in the prototype, instead of:
this.createNew = function (....) {}
Try:
User.prototype.createNew = function ( ... ) { }
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Closures#Performance_considerations for info on why.

Answer 2

For a starting point on organising your Node.js app, try reading through the source code on this demo express.js app. Click here for the link
It's a fairly popular repo, which I often find myself referencing when building Node.js apps from scratch.
It may be a good reference for your project given it's done in an the MVC style and it uses mongoose. The routes are organised into a single file which can be found in config/routes.js. You should also take a look at the models in app/models/ for an alternative way to organise your user model