Quick start

In this guide, we'll help you write your first program in Node.js. You'll create a simple HTTP server that listens on port 8080 and responds with "Hello, World!" when you visit http://localhost:8080 in your browser.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have Node.js installed on your machine. If you haven't installed Node.js yet, you can follow the steps in the installation guide.

Create a New File

Open your favorite text editor and create a new file. You can name it whatever you like, but for this example, let's call it hello.js.

Write Some Code

In your hello.js file, type the following code:

var http = require('http');

http.createServer(function (req, res) {
  res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/html'});
  res.end('Hello World!');
}).listen(8080);

After writing the code, save the file.

Run the Program

Open a terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory where you saved hello.js. Then, type the following command:

node hello.js

Access the Web Server

After running the command, your web server will start listening on port 8080. Open a web browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080. You should see the text "Hello World!" displayed in the browser.

Congratulations! 🎉 You've just created and ran your first Node.js web server. Now get ready to understand how Node.js works