Node.js - why aren't these modules working as I expect them to?

Question

The following code displays some behavior other than what I am expecting.

---

What I expect:

GET / --> display "Welcome" and close the connection

POST /pages --> increment/log the counter; display "in the POST function", and close the connection

GET /someRandomPath --> increment/log the counter; display 404 message

---

What I observe:

GET / --> display "Welcome" and close the connection

POST /pages --> NO increment/log of the counter; display "in the POST function", and close the connection

GET /someRandomPath --> increment/log the counter; display 404 message

---

Code:

var express = require('express');
var request_counter = 0;

var app = express()

    .use(express.basicAuth('test', 'test'))

    //serve the root (welcome)
    .get('/', function(req, resp, next) {
        resp.end('welcome');  
    })  

    //  count/log the requests
    .use(function(req, resp, next) {
        console.log('request# ' + (++request_counter));
        next();
    })

    //  serve "/pages"
    .post('/pages', function (req, resp, next) {
        console.log('in the POST function');
        resp.end('in the POST function');
    })

    //  serve 404
    .use(function (req, resp) {
        resp
            .status(404)
            .end('BB: not found')
        ;
    })
;

module.exports = app;

---

Why does the counter not increment/log when I call POST /pages ?

One thing I notice is that if I comment out the //serve the root section, I get the behavior I expect.

Answer 1

It looks as if you're supposed to define all of your middlewhere before you start defining routes, as noted in this answer.

You're not explicitly using app.use(app.router), but it's automatically called when you use app.get.

Knowing this, I would most likely change your code to something similar to this:

var express = require('express');
var request_counter = 0;

var app = express()

app.use(express.basicAuth('test', 'test'))

//  count/log the requests for all except '/'
app.use(function(req, resp, next) {

    if (req.path != '/') {
        console.log('request# ' + (++request_counter));
    }

    next();
})

//serve the root (welcome)
app.get('/', function(req, resp, next) {
    resp.end('welcome');  
})  

//  serve "/pages"
app.post('/pages', function (req, resp, next) {
    console.log('in the POST function');
    resp.end('in the POST function');
})

//  serve 404 for all the rest
app.all('*', (function (req, resp) {
    resp
        .status(404)
        .end('BB: not found')
    ;
}))

app.listen(1234);