Express.js

JavaScript

Server & API

The classic Node.js web server — simple, flexible, widely used.

What it does

Express.js is the most popular framework for building web servers and APIs in Node.js. It's minimal and flexible — you add only what you need.

When to use it

Use this when you need a simple Node.js API server or want a backend that many tutorials support.

Real example

You need a simple backend that saves contact form submissions to a JSON file. Prompt: 'Create an Express app with a POST /contact route that reads name, email, message from req.body. Append the submission with a timestamp to a submissions.json file. Return a 200 JSON response.'

Good to know

Battle-tested and has a huge ecosystem. If you need something more modern and performant, check out Hono.

Alternatives

Hono Fastify Koa

Install

$ npm install express

Use cases

web serverAPINode.jsREST API

Language

JavaScript

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