Request Handling

Request handling is the core of web applications. When users interact with your website - clicking links, submitting forms, or making API calls - they're sending HTTP requests to your server. Understanding how to handle these requests properly is essential for building dynamic, interactive web applications.

What You'll Learn

In this chapter, we'll cover the fundamentals of request handling:

  1. GET and POST Basics - Understanding the difference between GET and POST requests and how to handle them on the server
  2. Templating - Creating dynamic HTML templates with basic techniques and Handlebars
  3. Forms - Creating HTML forms and handling form submissions with Express

Practice Exercises

In-Class Exercises - Hands-on exercises to practice the concepts covered in this chapter

Prerequisites

Before starting this chapter, you should be familiar with:

  • Basic HTML and CSS
  • JavaScript fundamentals
  • Node.js and Express.js basics

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

  • Distinguish between GET and POST requests and use them appropriately
  • Create dynamic HTML templates using basic techniques
  • Use Handlebars templating engine for professional template management
  • Build HTML forms with various input types and validation
  • Handle form submissions on the server with Express
  • Implement both client-side and server-side form validation
  • Build server-side applications that generate dynamic content

Additional skills (filesystem operations and advanced validation) will be added soon.

Let's start with understanding the basics of GET and POST requests!

Next: GET and POST Basics →

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