Express.js and jsonplaceholder application

Question

I have put together a small node application with Express.js and jsonplaceholder .

On the homepage, it displays posts by all users. You can also filter posts by one user (author).

In app.js I have:

var createError = require('http-errors');
var express = require('express');
var axios = require('axios');
var path = require('path');
var cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');
var expressLayouts = require('express-ejs-layouts');
var logger = require('morgan');
var indexRouter = require('./routes/index');
var usersRouter = require('./routes/users');
var app = express();
global.base_url = 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com';
global.title = 'Express Magazine';
// view engine setup
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'));
app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
app.use(logger('dev'));
app.use(express.json());
app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: false }));
app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(expressLayouts);
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));
app.use('/', indexRouter);
app.use('/users', usersRouter);
// catch 404 and forward to error handler
app.use(function(req, res, next) {
 next(createError(404));
});
// error handler
app.use(function(err, req, res, next) {
 // set locals, only providing error in development
 res.locals.message = err.message;
 res.locals.error = req.app.get('env') === 'development' ? err : {};
 // render the error page
 res.status(err.status || 500);
 res.render('error');
});
module.exports = app;

In routes\index.js:

const express = require('express');
const indexController = require('../controllers/index');
const router = express.Router();
// Get Posts
router.get('/', indexController.getHomepageData);
// Get Posts By User
router.get('/users/:uid/posts/', indexController.getPostsByUser);
// Redirect from bad routes
router.get('/users/', function(req, res) {
 res.redirect('/');
});
router.get('/users/:uid/', function(req, res) {
 res.redirect('/');
});
module.exports = router;

The indexController controler has the folwing code:

var axios = require('axios');
var helpers = require('../utils/helpers');
/* GET home page data */
exports.getHomepageData = async (req, res, next) => {
 try {
 let [userData, postData] = await Promise.all([
 axios.get(`${base_url}/users`),
 axios.get(`${base_url}/posts`)
 ]);
 const users = userData.data;
 const posts = postData.data;
 res.render('index', {
 layout: 'layout',
 pageTitle: 'All posts',
 users: users,
 currentUser: null,
 posts: posts,
 });
 } catch (error) {
 res.status(500).json(error);
 }
};
/* GET posts by user */
exports.getPostsByUser = async (req, res, next) => {
 try {
 let uid = req.params.uid;
 let [userData, currentUserData, postData] = await Promise.all([
 axios.get(`${base_url}/users`),
 axios.get(`${base_url}/users/${uid}`),
 axios.get(`${base_url}/posts?userId=${uid}`)
 ]);
 const users = userData.data;
 const currentUser = currentUserData.data;
 const posts = postData.data;
 res.render('index', {
 layout: 'layout',
 users: users,
 posts: posts,
 currentUser: currentUser,
 pageTitle: `Posts by ${currentUser.name}`,
 });
 } catch (error) {
 res.status(500).json(error);
 }
};

In the index.ejs view I use the above finctions. Sample:

<% if (posts) {%>
 <div class="row post-grid">
 <% posts.forEach(function(post) { %>
 <div class="col-sm-6 post">
 <div class="post-container">
 <h2 class="display-4 post-title"><%= post.title.toTitleCase() %></h2>
 <div class="short-desc">
 <%= post.body.capitalizeSentence() %>
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 <% }); %>
 </div>
<% } %>

The application works, but I am certain there is room for improvement.

Questions

1. Is the code DRY enough?
2. Is it missing anything essential?

• Sᴀᴍ Onᴇᴌᴀ: Could you please edit to include the contents of routes/users.js? and is helpers actually used by the code in indexController? If so, what for?
• Razvan Zamfir: @SᴀᴍOnᴇᴌᴀ I have added the required code.
• Razvan Zamfir: @SᴀᴍOnᴇᴌᴀ In fact, you can see the entire repo here , if you want.

Answer 1

Is the code DRY enough?

It does not seem very repetitive - looks fine to me.

One could be overly pedantic and suggest that the function inside the routes be abstracted:

// Redirect from bad routes
router.get('/users/', function(req, res) {
 res.redirect('/');
});
router.get('/users/:uid/', function(req, res) {
 res.redirect('/');
});

to:

// Redirect from bad routes
const redirectToRoot = (req, res) => { res.redirect('/'); }
router.get('/users/', redirectToRoot); 
router.get('/users/:uid/', redirectToRoot);

but that may be excess work since it only appears twice. If the common function appears 3 or more times then abstracting is typically worth it.