Setup routes in Node.js with Express.js and Jade with controllers, models, and views

MVC implementation with Node.js

Structure wise, here is my preference:

• /

  • config
  • controllers
  • models
  • public

    • css

  • views

    • controllerName

      • index.jade

• app.js
• routes.js

In the above structure, I create one file per controller, model, and a sub folder in the views directory to hold my Jade jQuery template.

App.js and Route.js Setup

Example app.js setup

var express = require('express');
var app = module.exports = express.createServer();
var config = require('./config/config');
// Configuration, defaults to jade as the view engine
app.configure(function(){
app.set('views', __dirname + '/views');
app.set('view engine', 'jade');
app.use(express.bodyParser());
app.use(express.methodOverride());
app.use(app.router);
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
});
app.configure('development', function(){
app.use(express.errorHandler({ dumpExceptions: true, showStack: true }));
});
app.listen(80, function(){
console.log("Express server listening on port 80");
});
module.exports.app = app;
routes = require('./routes');

The above code sets up Express and Jade as the templating engine, initializes the web server and loads the routes.js file.

Example routes.js setup

app = module.parent.exports.app;
/* require your controllers here */
var homeController = require('./controllers/home');
var userController = require('./controllers/user');
app.get('/', homeController.index);
app.get('/users', userController.index);
app.get('/users/detail', userController.detail);

This instantiates two controllers: home and user. Then one route is created for / that calls the index function in the home controller and two routes are created for the user controller: index and detail.

Hopefully this is a good structure to get you started with using MVC, Express.js, and Jade templates.

Published on Jul 14, 2019

Tags: Node js Tutorial | express | jade