How to Create a Simple Web Server Using Express.js (Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners)

In the world of web development, having a basic understanding of how web servers work is essential. Whether you're building a portfolio site, an e-commerce app. you’ll need a server to handle incoming requests and send responses.

And that’s where Express.js comes in.

This article will guide you step-by-step on how to create a simple web server using Express.js, explain the concepts behind it, and help you understand how everything fits together.

Let’s dive in!

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What Is a Web Server?

A web server is a program that listens to incoming client requests, processes them, and sends back a response (like HTML, JSON, or a file).

For example, when you visit https://www.google.com, your browser sends a request to Google’s server, and the server responds with the homepage content.

We can build this kind of server using Node.js and Express.js.

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What Is Express.js?

Express.js is a minimal and flexible web framework built on top of Node.js. It provides a powerful set of features to create web and mobile applications.

Express simplifies the process of building servers so we can focus more on building features instead of dealing with low-level HTTP logic.

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Step-by-Step: Build a Simple Express Server

Step 1: Set Up Your Project Folder

Open your terminal and create a new folder for your project.

mkdir express-server
cd express-server

This is where all your code will live.

Step 2: Initialize the Project with npm

To manage packages and scripts, run the following:

npm init -y

This creates a package.json file, which stores your project’s configuration and dependencies.

Step 3: Install Express.js

Now install Express.js:

npm install express

It will be added as a dependency in your package.json.

Step 4: Create the Server File

Let’s create a file to write our server code.

touch index.js

Now open index.js in your code editor.

Paste the following code:

const express = require('express'); // This imports the Express module.
const app = express(); // Create an express application

// Define a basic route
app.get('/', (req, res) => { 
  res.send('Hello, World! This is your first Express server!');
});

const PORT = 3000; // Set the port for the server

// Start the server
app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(`🚀 Server is running on http://localhost:${PORT}`);
});

Step 5: Run the Server

Go back to your terminal and run the file using Node.js:

node index.js

You should see:

🚀 Server is running on http://localhost:3000

Now open your browser and go to http://localhost:3000 — you’ll see:

Hello, World! This is your first Express server!

🎉 Congrats! You’ve just built a working web server!

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Ready to Level Up?

You can now try:

• Adding query parameters (req.query)

• Handling POST requests (app.post)

• Connecting with MongoDB (using Mongoose)

• Deploying with Railway or Vercel

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Express.js makes building web servers fast and easy — it's the perfect starting point for anyone stepping into backend or full-stack development. 🚀