How do you create a server in Node.js?

Creating a server in Node.js is a fundamental task that involves using the built-in http or https modules to create an HTTP or HTTPS server respectively. Here’s a basic example of how to create a simple HTTP server in Node.js:

javascript
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// Import the http module
const http = require('http');

// Define the hostname and port number
const hostname = '127.0.0.1';
const port = 3000;

// Create an HTTP server
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
 // Set the HTTP status code and content type
 res.statusCode = 200;
 res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');

 // Send a response to the client
 res.end('Hello, World!\n');
});

// Start the server and listen on the specified port
server.listen(port, hostname, () => {
 console.log(`Server running at http://${hostname}:${port}/`);
});

In this example, we import the http module, define the hostname and port number, create an HTTP server using the createServer() method, and specify a callback function to handle incoming HTTP requests. Inside the callback function, we set the HTTP status code, content type, and send a response to the client using the res.end() method.

To run this server, save the code in a file (e.g., server.js) and execute it using Node.js:

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node server.js

This will start the server, and you can access it by navigating to http://127.0.0.1:3000 in your web browser. You should see the message “Hello, World!” displayed in the browser, indicating that the server is running successfully.

Creating an HTTPS server follows a similar process but requires additional steps such as generating SSL certificates and configuring the server to use HTTPS encryption. However, the basic principles of creating and running a server remain the same.

Creating a server in Node.js is simple yet powerful, allowing developers to build scalable and high-performance web applications and APIs.