The Node.js HTTP Module
📌 Covered in this chapter:
createServer() · Request & Response Objects · JSON Responses · Basic Route Handling
Build a raw web server from scratch using Node's built-in http module — no framework required.
1The Node.js HTTP Module — What You'll Learn
Build a raw web server from scratch using Node's built-in http module — no framework required.
Here's everything this chapter covers, in the order you'll learn it:
- The node:http module
- Creating a server with createServer()
- The request object
- The response object
- Reading the request method
- Reading the request URL
- Setting headers
- Setting status codes
- Sending a JSON response
- Basic route handling
- Reading the request body
- A minimal CRUD server without a framework
2Working Example
💻 Example: The Node.js HTTP Module
JavaScript
▶ Run in Compiler
import { createServer } from "node:http";
const server = createServer((request, response) => {
response.writeHead(200, {
"Content-Type": "application/json",
});
response.end(JSON.stringify({
message: "Hello from Node.js",
}));
});
server.listen(3000, () => {
console.log("Server running on port 3000");
});3Best Practices & Common Pitfalls
💡 Key things to remember:
- Forgetting to call response.end() is one of the most common bugs — the client's request will hang forever waiting for a response.
- writeHead(200, {...}) sets both the status code and headers in a single call, and must happen before you write the body.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q What's the most important thing to understand about the node.js http module?
Focus on: createServer() · Request & Response Objects · JSON Responses · Basic Route Handling. These are the core building blocks this chapter's examples are built around, and they show up repeatedly in later chapters of this course.
Q Do I need external npm packages for the node.js http module?
Only where explicitly shown in the code examples above (like Express, Zod, or Socket.IO) — otherwise, this chapter relies entirely on Node.js's own built-in capabilities.