Foundation — Live
01
What is Express
What Express adds on top of raw Node.js http, and why it's still dominant.
02
Routing
Mapping URLs and methods to handlers, route parameters, and Router.
03
Middleware
The (req, res, next) pipeline pattern that powers all of Express.
04
Request & Response
Reading req, sending res — status codes, headers, cookies, files.
05
Error Handling
The 4-argument middleware signature and centralizing error responses.
06
REST APIs
A complete CRUD API — the standard pattern for any resource.
Building Real Backends — Live
07
Authentication
Password hashing, JWT tokens, sessions, and Passport.js.
08
Validation
Never trust request data — Zod schemas and express-validator.
09
Connecting Databases
Prisma for SQL, Mongoose for MongoDB, transactions, pooling.
10
File Uploads
multer, multipart form data, validation, and cloud storage.
11
Security Best Practices
Helmet, rate limiting, CORS, and injection prevention.
12
Testing Express Apps
supertest, integration testing, mocking the database layer.
13
Deploying Express Apps
Docker, PM2, graceful shutdown, and the production checklist.