Node.js App with EJS Template Engine, Routing, Security, User Authentication, MongoDB Connection, and API Services

This Node.js application serves as a boilerplate for building web applications with features including routing, user authentication, secure connections, MongoDB database integration, and consumption of external API services. It is structured to provide a foundation for building robust web applications with Node.js.

• EJS Template Engine: Utilizes the EJS (Embedded JavaScript) template engine for server-side rendering of dynamic content.
• Routing: Implements routing using Express.js, allowing for efficient handling of HTTP requests and navigation between different parts of the application.
• Security: Includes security measures to protect against common web vulnerabilities such as CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery), XSS (Cross-Site Scripting), and others.
• User Authentication: Provides user authentication functionality, enabling users to securely log in, log out, and access protected resources within the application.
• MongoDB Connection: Integrates with MongoDB, a NoSQL database, for storing and retrieving application data. This includes user information, session data, and other relevant data structures.
• API Services: Demonstrates how to interact with external API services, enabling the application to fetch or send data to third-party services.

• Node.js and npm installed on your system
• MongoDB database instance set up (locally or remote)s.

1. Clone the Repository: Clone this repository to your local machine:

   git clone <repository_url>

2. Navigate to the Project Directory: Move into the project directory:

   cd nodejs-app-template

3. Install Dependencies: Use npm to install the required dependencies:

   npm install

4. Configure Environment Variables:

   • Define the necessary environment variables such as PORT, MONGODB_URI, SESSION_SECRET, etc. in package.json nodemonConfig

5. Start the Application: Launch the application by running:

   npm start

6. Access the Application: Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000 (or the port specified in your environment variables) to access the application.

• Navigate through the application using the defined routes.
• Register an account or log in with existing credentials to access authenticated features.
• Explore how data is stored and retrieved from the MongoDB database.
• Experiment with integrating additional API services by modifying the existing codebase.

This application is built using Node.js, Express.js, EJS, and other open-source technologies as a part of Node.js and Express Course at Pluralsight.