Middleware functions are functions that have access to the request object (req)
, the response object (res)
, and the next function
in the application’s request-response cycle. The next function is a function in the Express router which, when invoked, executes the middleware succeeding the current middleware.
Middleware functions can perform the following tasks:
- Execute any code.
- Make changes to the request and the response objects.
- End the request-response cycle.
- Call the next middleware in the stack.
If the current middleware function does not end the request-response cycle, it must call next()
to pass control to the next middleware function. Otherwise, the request will be left hanging.
To load the middleware function, call app.use()
, specifying the middleware function.
For example, the following code loads the myLogger middleware function before the route to the root path (/).
const express = require('express')
const app = express()
const myLogger = function (req, res, next) {
console.log('LOGGED')
next()
}
app.use(myLogger)
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.send('Hello World!')
})
app.listen(3000)