Asia Pacific

Top 10 Express.js Tips for Asia

Master Express.js development with these essential tips and best practices used by top developers in Asia.

Structure Your Application with Router Modules

Organize your Express application by splitting routes into separate modules. This improves maintainability and makes your codebase easier to navigate as it grows.

// routes/users.js
const router = require('express').Router();

router.get('/', getUsers);
router.post('/', createUser);
router.get('/:id', getUserById);

module.exports = router;

// app.js
app.use('/api/users', require('./routes/users'));

Implement Middleware for Cross-Cutting Concerns

Use middleware to handle authentication, logging, error handling, and request validation. This keeps your route handlers clean and focused on business logic.

const authenticate = async (req, res, next) => {
  const token = req.headers.authorization?.split(' ')[1];

  if (!token) {
    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'No token provided' });
  }

  try {
    req.user = await verifyToken(token);
    next();
  } catch (error) {
    res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid token' });
  }
};

app.use('/api/protected', authenticate);

Use Async/Await with Error Handling Wrapper

Create a wrapper function to handle async errors automatically. This eliminates repetitive try-catch blocks and ensures all errors are properly caught.

const asyncHandler = (fn) => (req, res, next) => {
  Promise.resolve(fn(req, res, next)).catch(next);
};

// Usage
router.get('/users', asyncHandler(async (req, res) => {
  const users = await User.find();
  res.json(users);
}));

// Error handler middleware
app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
  console.error(err.stack);
  res.status(500).json({ error: 'Something went wrong!' });
});

Validate Request Input with Express-Validator

Always validate incoming data to prevent security vulnerabilities and ensure data integrity. Express-validator provides a clean, declarative API for validation.

const { body, validationResult } = require('express-validator');

const validateUser = [
  body('email').isEmail().normalizeEmail(),
  body('password').isLength({ min: 8 }),
  body('name').trim().notEmpty(),
];

router.post('/users', validateUser, (req, res) => {
  const errors = validationResult(req);
  if (!errors.isEmpty()) {
    return res.status(400).json({ errors: errors.array() });
  }
  // Create user...
});

Implement Proper Security Middleware

Use Helmet for security headers, implement CORS properly, and rate limit your endpoints. These are essential for production-ready applications.

const helmet = require('helmet');
const cors = require('cors');
const rateLimit = require('express-rate-limit');

app.use(helmet());

app.use(cors({
  origin: process.env.ALLOWED_ORIGINS?.split(','),
  credentials: true
}));

const limiter = rateLimit({
  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000,
  max: 100
});
app.use('/api/', limiter);

Use Environment-Based Configuration

Load configuration from environment variables and create environment-specific settings. Never hardcode secrets or environment-specific values.

// config/index.js
require('dotenv').config();

module.exports = {
  port: process.env.PORT || 3000,
  db: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
    options: {
      maxPoolSize: parseInt(process.env.DB_POOL_SIZE) || 10
    }
  },
  jwt: {
    secret: process.env.JWT_SECRET,
    expiresIn: process.env.JWT_EXPIRES_IN || '1d'
  }
};

Implement Logging with Request Correlation

Use structured logging with request IDs to trace requests across your system. This is invaluable for debugging production issues.

const { v4: uuid } = require('uuid');
const pino = require('pino-http');

app.use((req, res, next) => {
  req.id = req.headers['x-request-id'] || uuid();
  res.setHeader('x-request-id', req.id);
  next();
});

app.use(pino({
  genReqId: (req) => req.id,
  serializers: {
    req: (req) => ({
      id: req.id,
      method: req.method,
      url: req.url
    })
  }
}));

Handle Graceful Shutdown

Implement graceful shutdown to properly close database connections and finish processing requests before the server stops.

const server = app.listen(port);

const shutdown = async () => {
  console.log('Shutting down gracefully...');

  server.close(async () => {
    await mongoose.connection.close();
    await redis.quit();
    console.log('Server closed');
    process.exit(0);
  });

  setTimeout(() => {
    console.error('Forced shutdown');
    process.exit(1);
  }, 10000);
};

process.on('SIGTERM', shutdown);
process.on('SIGINT', shutdown);

Implement Response Compression

Use compression middleware to reduce response sizes. This significantly improves performance, especially for JSON-heavy APIs.

const compression = require('compression');

app.use(compression({
  filter: (req, res) => {
    if (req.headers['x-no-compression']) {
      return false;
    }
    return compression.filter(req, res);
  },
  threshold: 1024 // Only compress if > 1KB
}));

Use TypeScript for Better Developer Experience

TypeScript provides type safety, better IDE support, and catches errors at compile time. It's especially valuable for larger Express applications.

import { Request, Response, NextFunction } from 'express';

interface User {
  id: string;
  email: string;
  name: string;
}

interface AuthRequest extends Request {
  user?: User;
}

const getUserProfile = async (
  req: AuthRequest,
  res: Response,
  next: NextFunction
) => {
  const user = req.user;
  if (!user) {
    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Unauthorized' });
  }
  res.json({ profile: user });
};

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