Creating a well-organized project structure is crucial for maintaining and scaling a web application. Here’s a suggested project hierarchy for your web app using Express, EJS, MongoDB, HTML, and CSS. This structure aims to keep your code clean and maintainable:
Bash
my-web-app/
├── public/
│ ├── css/
│ │ └── styles.css
│ ├── js/
│ │ └── scripts.js
│ └── images/
│ └── logo.png
├── views/
│ ├── partials/
│ │ ├── header.ejs
│ │ ├── footer.ejs
│ │ └── navbar.ejs
│ ├── pages/
│ │ ├── index.ejs
│ │ ├── about.ejs
│ │ └── contact.ejs
│ └── layouts/
│ └── main.ejs
├── routes/
│ ├── index.js
│ ├── users.js
│ └── posts.js
├── models/
│ ├── user.js
│ └── post.js
├── controllers/
│ ├── userController.js
│ └── postController.js
├── config/
│ ├── database.js
│ └── config.js
├── middlewares/
│ ├── auth.js
│ └── errorHandler.js
├── utils/
│ ├── helpers.js
│ └── validators.js
├── test/
│ ├── user.test.js
│ └── post.test.js
├── .env
├── .gitignore
├── app.js
├── package.json
└── README.md
Explanation of the Structure
public/
: Contains static files (CSS, JavaScript, images).css/
: CSS files.js/
: JavaScript files.images/
: Image files.
views/
: EJS templates for rendering the front end.partials/
: Reusable EJS partials like headers, footers, and navbars.pages/
: Specific EJS pages like home, about, and contact.layouts/
: Layout files, typically a main layout file.
routes/
: Defines the application routes.index.js
: Main routes.users.js
: User-related routes.posts.js
: Post-related routes.
models/
: MongoDB models.user.js
: User model.post.js
: Post model.
controllers/
: Handles the business logic.userController.js
: User-related controller functions.postController.js
: Post-related controller functions.
config/
: Configuration files.database.js
: Database connection setup.config.js
: Other configuration settings.
middlewares/
: Middleware functions.auth.js
: Authentication middleware.errorHandler.js
: Error handling middleware.
utils/
: Utility functions and helpers.helpers.js
: General helper functions.validators.js
: Validation functions.
test/
: Unit and integration tests.user.test.js
: Tests for user functionality.post.test.js
: Tests for post functionality.
- Root Files:
.env
: Environment variables..gitignore
: Git ignore file.app.js
: Main application file.package.json
: Project dependencies and scripts.README.md
: Project documentation.
This structure should provide a solid foundation for your project, making it easier to manage as it grows. You can adjust the folders and files as per your specific requirements.