Dynamic routes with different functions in express js

Question

Dynamic routes with different functions in express js

I have loads of router.get functions in my code which I think, could be reduced to a single switch-case function. Here is what I have tried:

function handlerA(req, res) {}

function handlerB(req, res) {}

var routes = {
    '/url-one': handlerA,
    '/url-two': handlerB
}

router.get('/*', function(req, res) {
    var url = req.url;

    if (routes[url]) {
        routes[url](req, res);
    }
});

This works but also, significantly slows my application. Is there any other solution which would not hit the performance of my app?

Thanks

javascript
node.js
express

Answer 1

Is there a reason you don't want to use router.get functions? I would guess express.js is internally performing the same logic that you are doing anyway. You are just replacing get functions with handlers.

If you are using similar logic between multiple routes, that may be worth abstracting.

Answer 2

I usually go with a setup like this:

app.js
routes.js
api/
  user/
    index.js
    user.controller.js
    user.model.js
  image/
    index.js
    image.controller.js
    image.model.js

/api/user/index.js:

var express = require('express');
var controller = require('./user.controller');

var router = express.Router();

router.get('/', controller.index);
router.post('/', controller.create);

module.exports = router;

/api/user/user.controller.js:

var User = require('./user.model');

exports.index = function(req, res) {
  // Show list of users
};

exports.create = function (req, res, next) {
  // Create user
};

/routes.js:

module.exports = function(app) {

  // Insert routes below
  app.use('/api/users', require('./api/user'));
  app.use('/api/images', require('./api/image'));

  // All undefined asset or api routes should return a 404
  app.route('/:url(api|auth|components|app|bower_components|assets)/*')
   .get(errors[404]);

  // All other routes should redirect to the index.html
  app.route('/*')
    .get(function(req, res) {
      res.sendfile(app.get('appPath') + '/index.html');
    });
};

And lastly, the /app.js:

// Set default node environment to development
process.env.NODE_ENV = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';

var express = require('express');
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
var config = require('./config/environment');

// Connect to database
mongoose.connect(config.mongo.uri, config.mongo.options);

// Populate DB with sample data
if(config.seedDB) { require('./config/seed'); }

// Setup server
var app = express();
var server = require('http').createServer(app);
require('./config/express')(app);
require('./routes')(app);

// Start server
server.listen(config.port, config.ip, function () {
  console.log('Express server listening on %d, in %s mode', config.port, app.get('env'));
});

// Expose app
exports = module.exports = app;

Most of this is directly from the Yeoman Generator Angular-Fullstack and it has a really nice setup!