Here is an overview of how a Node/JS project involving EJS would arrange its files. Main point to remember - /views contains the .ejs files (equivalent to HTML) and /public contains other static files such as css, images etc.
/project-root
│
├── /node_modules # Directory for installed npm packages
│
├── /public # Publicly accessible files (CSS, JavaScript, images)
│ ├── /css # CSS files
│ ├── /js # Client-side JavaScript files
│ ├── /images # Images
│ └── /assets # Other assets (fonts, etc.)
│
├── /views # EJS templates
│ ├── /partials # Reusable EJS partials (headers, footers, etc.)
│ └── index.ejs # Main EJS template (example)
│
├── /routes # Route definitions
│ └── index.js # Main route file
│
├── /controllers # Logic for handling requests
│ └── indexController.js # Example controller
│
├── /middlewares # Custom middleware functions
│ └── auth.js # Authentication middleware (example)
│
├── /config # Configuration files (database, environment, etc.)
│ └── db.js # Database configuration (example)
│
├── /models # Database models (if using a database)
│ └── user.js # Example model
│
├── /utils # Utility functions/helpers
│ └── helpers.js # Example utility file
│
├── /test # Test files
│ └── test.js # Example test file
│
├── .env # Environment variables (ignored in version control)
├── .gitignore # Files and directories to ignore in version control
├── package.json # Project metadata and dependencies
├── package-lock.json # Exact versions of installed dependencies
├── app.js # Main application file
└── README.md # Project documentation
- /node_modules: Contains all the npm packages installed for the project.
- /public: Houses all the static files (CSS, JavaScript, images, etc.) that are served directly to the client.
- /views: Contains all the EJS templates. The partials directory stores reusable components like headers, footers, and navigation bars.
- /routes: Defines the application’s endpoints and maps them to controller functions.
- /controllers: Handles the logic for each route, processing requests, and returning responses.
- /middlewares: Stores custom middleware functions that process requests before they reach the routes.
- /config: Configuration files for database connections, environment variables, and other settings.
- /models: If using a database, this directory contains the schema definitions and models.
- /utils: Utility functions or helper methods used throughout the application.
- /test: Test files for the application, often written with a testing framework.
- app.js: The main entry point of the application, where the Express app is configured and started.
Connecting different parts
- The
app.use(express.static("public"))line in an Express.js application serves static files like images, CSS, JavaScript, etc., from the public directory.