C​SE 154: Web Programming

Node.js/Express “Cheat Sheet”

This reference summarizes the most useful methods/properties used in CSE 154 for Node.js/Express. It is not an 
exhaustive reference for everything in Node.js/Express (for example, there exist many more ​fs 
methods/properties than are shown below), but provide most functions/properties you will be using in this class. 
Note that this Cheat Sheet is more comprehensive than the one provided in CSE154 exams. 

Basic Node.js Project Structure Example Express app Template 

example-node-project/ "use strict"; 
.gitignore  
APIDOC.md /* File comment */ 
app.js  
node_modules/ const express = require("express"); 
... // other modules you use 
package.json // program constants 
 
public/
const app = express(); 
img/
// if serving front-end files in public/ 
... app.use(express.static(“public”));  
index.html  
index.js // if handling different POST formats 
styles.css app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: true })); 
app.use(express.json()); 
app.use(multer().none()); 
 
// app.get/app.post endpoints 
 
// helper functions 
 
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 8000; 
app.listen(PORT);

npm Commands 
 
Command Description
npm init  Initializes a node project. Creates packages.json to track required 
modules/packages, as well as the node_modules folder to track 
imported packages. 

npm install  Installs any requirements for the local node package based on the 
contents of package.json. 

npm install <package-name>  Installs a package from NPM’s own repository as well as any 
requirements specified in that package’s package.json file. 

 
 

   

CSE 154 Node.js Cheat Sheet Summer 2019 - Version 08/21/19

Glossary 
 
Term Definition
API  Application Programming Interface.  

Web Service  A type of API that supports HTTP Requests, returning data such as 
JSON or plain text. 

Express  A module for simplifying the http-server core module in Node to 
implement APIs 

npm  The Node Package Manager. Used to initialize package.json files 

and install Node project dependencies. 

Module  A standalone package which can be used to extend the 

functionality of a Node project. 

Package  Any project with a package.json file. 

API Documentation  A file detailing the endpoints, usage, and functionality of various 
endpoints of an API. 

Server  A publicly accessible machine which exchanges information with 

one or more clients at a time. 

Client  A private or public machine which requests information from a 

server. 

Useful Core Modules 

 
Module Description

fs  The “file system” module with various functions to process data in the file system.

path  Provides functions to process path strings.

util  Provides various “utility” functions, such as util.promisify.

   

CSE 154 Node.js Cheat Sheet Summer 2019 - Version 08/21/19

Other Useful Modules 
 
The following modules must be installed for each new project using ​npm install <module-name>​. 
 
Module Description
express  A module for simplifying the http-server core module in Node to implement APIs.

glob  Allows for quick traversal and filtering of files in a complex directory.

multer  Used to support FormData POST requests on the server-side so we can access the req.body parameters.

mysql  Provides functionality for interacting with a database and tables.

promise-mysql  Promisified wrapper over mysql module - each function in the mysql module returns a promise instead of
taking a callback as the last argument (recommended).

cookie-parser  A module to access cookies with req/res objects in Express.

Express Route Functions 

 
Function Description
app.get(“path”, middlewareFn(s));  Defines a server endpoint which accepts a valid ​GET​request. 
  Request and response objects are passed as ​req​and ​res 
app.get(“/”, (req, res) => {  respectively. Path parameters can be specified in ​path​with 
...  “:varname” and accessed via ​req.params​ . Query parameters 
});  can be accessed via ​req.query​ . 
 
 
app.get(“/:city”, (req, res) => { 
let city = req.params.city; 
... 
}); 
 
app.get(“/cityData”, (req, res) => { 
let city = req.query.city; 
... 
}); 
 
// Example with multiple middleware functions 
app.get(“/”, validateInput, (req, res) => { 
... 
}, handleErr); 
 

app.post(“path”, middlewareFn(s));  Defines a server endpoint which accepts a valid ​POST​request. 

  Request and response objects are passed as ​req​and ​res 
app.post(“/addItem”, (req, res) => {  respectively. POST body is accessible via ​req.body​. Requires 
let itemName = req.body.name;  POST middleware and multer module for FormData POST 
...  requests. 
} 

   

CSE 154 Node.js Cheat Sheet Summer 2019 - Version 08/21/19

Request Object Properties/Functions 
 
Property/Function Description
req.params  Captures a dictionary of desired path parameters. Keys are 
placeholder names and values are the URL itself. 

req.query  Captures a dictionary of query parameters, specified in a 

?key1=value1&key2=value2& …​ ​pattern. 

req.body  Holds a dictionary of POST parameters as key/value pairs. 

Requires multer module for multipart form requests (e.g. 
FormData) and using middleware functions (see Express template) 
for other POST request types. 

req.cookies  Retrieves all cookies sent in the request. Requires cookie-parser 

module. 

Response Object Properties/Functions 

 
Property/Function Description
res.set(headerName, value);  Used to set different response headers - commonly the 
  “Content-type” (though there are others we don’t cover). 
res.set(“Content-Type”, “text/plain”); 
res.set(“Content-Type”, “application/json”); 

res.type(“text”);  Shorthand for setting the “Content-Type” header. 

res.type(“json”); 

res.send(data);  Sends the data back to the client, signaling an end to the 
  response (does not terminate your JS program). 
res.send(“Hello”); 
res.send({ “msg” : “Hello” }); 

res.end();  Ends the request/response cycle without any data (does 

not terminate your JS program). 

res.json(data);  Shorthand for setting the content type to JSON and 

sending JSON. 

res.status(statusCode)  Specifies the HTTP status code of the response to 

  communicate success/failure to a client. 
res.status(400).send(“client-side error message”); 
res.status(500).send(“server-side error message”); 

CSE 154 Node.js Cheat Sheet Summer 2019 - Version 08/21/19

Useful fs Module Functions 
 
Note: You will often see the following “promisified” for use with async/await. The promisified versions will return 
a Promise that resolves callback’s contents or rejects if there was an error. Remember that you should always 
handle potential fs function errors (try/catch if async/await, if/else if standard callback). 
 
Example of promisifying callback-version of ​fs.readFile: 
fs.readFile(“file.txt”, “utf8”, (err, contents) => { 
... 
}); 
 
// Promisified: 
const util = require(“util”); 
const readFile = util.promisify(fs.readFile); 
 
async function example() { 
try { 
let contents = await readFile(“file.txt”); 
...  
} catch(err) { 
... 
} 
} 
 
Function Description
fs.readFile(filename, “utf8”, callback);  Reads the contents of the file located at relative 
  directory ​filename​ . If successful, passes the file 
fs.readFile(“file.txt”, “utf8”,   contents to the callback as ​contents​parameter. 
(err, contents) => { ... }  Otherwise, passes error info to callback as ​error 
);  parameter. 
 

fs.writeFile(filename, data, “utf8”, callback);  Writes ​data​string to the file specified by ​filename​ , 
  overwriting its contents if it already exists. If an error 
occurs, ​error​is passed to the callback function. 
fs.writeFile(“file.txt”, “new contents”, “utf8”,  
(err) => { ... } 
); 
 

fs.appendFile(filename, data, “utf8”, callback);  Writes ​data​to the file specified by ​filename​ , 
  appending to its contents. Creates a new file if the 
filename does not exist. If an error occurs, ​error​is 
fs.appendFile(“file.txt”, “added contents”, “utf8”,   passed to the callback function. 
(err) => { ... } 
); 

fs.existsSync(filename);  Returns true if the given filename exists. ​This is the 

only synchronous fs function you may use in CSE154 
(the asynchronous function is deprecated due to race 
conditions). 

fs.readdir(path, callback);  Retrieves all files within a directory located at ​path​

. ​If 
  successful, passes the array of directory content 
paths (as strings) to the callback as ​contents 
fs.readdir(“dir/path”, (err, contents) => {  parameter. Otherwise, passes error info to callback 
...  as ​error​parameter. 
}); 

CSE 154 Node.js Cheat Sheet Summer 2019 - Version 08/21/19

Useful path Module Functions
Function Description
path.basename(pathStr);  Returns the filename of the ​pathStr​. Ex. “picture.png” for “img/picture.png” 

path.extname(pathStr);  Returns the file type/file extension of the ​pathStr​. Ex. “.png” for “img/picture.png” 

path.dirname(pathStr);  Returns the directory name of the ​pathStr​. Ex: “img/” for “img/picture.png” 

The glob module

Function Description
glob(pattern, callback);  Globs all path strings matching a provided ​pattern​. The pattern will generally 
  follow the structure of a file path, along with any wildcards. If no paths match, the 
glob(“img/*”, (err, paths) => {  result array will be empty. ​ ​If successful, passes the array of directory content 
...  paths (as strings) to the callback as ​contents​parameter. Otherwise, passes error 
});  info to callback as ​error​parameter. 
   
// promisified  Common selectors: 
paths = await glob(“img/*”);  *​ - A wildcard selector that will contextually match a single filename, suffix, or 
directory. 
**​ - A recursive selector that will search into any subdirectories for the pattern that 
follows it. 
 
 
 

The promise-mysql module

Function Description
mysql.createConnection({  Returns a connected database object using config variables. If an 
host : hostname, // default localhost  error occurs during connection (e.g. the SQL server is not running), 
port : port,  does not return a defined database object. 
user : username, 
password : pw, 
database : dbname 
}); 

db.query(qryString);  Executes the SQL query. If the query is a SELECT statement, returns a 
  Promise that resolves to an array of RowDataPackets with the records 
  matching the ​qryString​ passed. If the query is an INSERT statement, 
  the Promise resolves to an OkPacket. Throws an error if something 
  goes wrong during the query. 
   
db.query(qryString, [placeholders]);  When using variables in your query string, you should use ? 
placeholders in the string and populate [placeholders] with the 
variable names to sanitize the input against SQL injection   

CSE 154 Node.js Cheat Sheet Summer 2019 - Version 08/21/19