Episode 1: Project Initialization & Setup

Technologies

• Express.js
• Express Generator
• Node.js
• dotenv
• CORS

1. Install Express Generator

Install library express-generator into root NodeJS.

npm install -g express-generator

2. Scaffold the Project

express ecommerce-backend --view=hbs
cd ecommerce-backend
npm install

–view=hbs: Uses Handlebars as the view engine.

3. Install Required Dependencies

Update tailwind.config.js:

npm install dotenv cors mongoose cookie-parser

4. Setup Environment Variables

Create a .env file at the root:

PORT=3000
MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/ecommerce_db
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret

5. Configure app.js

Load .env and set up middlewares:

require('dotenv').config();
const cors = require('cors');
const cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');

app.use(cors({
  origin: 'http://localhost:5173', // Frontend URL
  credentials: true
}));

app.use(cookieParser());

6. Connect to MongoDB

In a new file config/db.js:

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const connectDB = async () => {
  try {
    await mongoose.connect(process.env.MONGO_URI);
    console.log('MongoDB connected');
  } catch (err) {
    console.error(err.message);
    process.exit(1);
  }
};

module.exports = connectDB;

And in bin/www or app.js, initialize the DB:

const connectDB = require('./config/db');
connectDB();

7. Test the Server

npm start

Visit: http://localhost:3000

You should see the default Handlebars index page.

Project Structure After Setup

ecommerce-backend/
│
├── app.js
├── bin/www
├── config/
│   └── db.js
├── routes/
│   ├── index.js
│   └── users.js
├── views/
│   └── index.hbs
├── .env
├── package.json