# The http Module — Node.js

Source: https://www.geekswithgeeks.com/en/nodejs/node-http-server

> Create a server and route requests without any framework.

## A minimal server

`http.createServer` takes a callback that runs for every incoming request.

```javascript
import http from "node:http";

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": "text/plain" });
  res.end("Hello, Node server!");
});

server.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log("Listening on http://localhost:3000");
});
```

Output:

```
Listening on http://localhost:3000
```

## Routing manually

Without a framework, you branch on `req.method` and `req.url` yourself.

```javascript
const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  if (req.method === "GET" && req.url === "/") {
    res.end("Home page");
  } else if (req.method === "GET" && req.url === "/about") {
    res.end("About page");
  } else {
    res.writeHead(404);
    res.end("Not found");
  }
});
```

## Frameworks exist for a reason

Manual routing gets messy fast — frameworks like Express layer clean routing, middleware, and parsing on top of this same `http` module.

**Quiz:** What does res.end() do?

- [ ] Starts the server
- [x] Sends the response and closes it
- [ ] Deletes the request

*Answer:* Sends the response and closes it. `res.end()` finishes sending the response body; no more data can be written to it afterward.