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JavaScript Express Basics (2015) Serving Static Files in Express Setting Up the Express Static Server in Development

Posted by Allison Walker
Allison Walker
17,137 Points

Why are we using '/static' - as opposed to '/public'?

Curious as to why we use '/static' vs any other term, especially '/public'?

3 Answers

Andrew Chalkley
STAFF
Andrew Chalkley
Treehouse Guest Teacher
Andrew Chalkley
Andrew Chalkley
Treehouse Guest Teacher

I haven't seen this particular video but static and public are both common directories for "static assets" or "publicly accessible assets".

Anthony c
Anthony c
20,907 Points
Anthony c
Anthony c
20,907 Points

Is there an upside to passing the files through "/static"?

Why not just name the "public" folder "static" to begin with?

why this?

app.use('/static', express.static(__dirname + '/public'))

and not this

app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/static'))
Matthew Day
Matthew Day
6,740 Points
Matthew Day
Matthew Day
6,740 Points

I would love to know the answer to this, as well.

davidanguiano2
davidanguiano2
6,859 Points
davidanguiano2
davidanguiano2
6,859 Points

.static is built in middleware for Express.js. So using /static directory to store all your static asset files is -- although extremely helpful -- simply a naming convention.

In the context of the massive info dump that comes with inevitably distilling a complex toolset into a few short videos, this can seem like just one more little thing to remember.