Stop Building APIs That Fail Silently: A Node.js Developer's Community Challenge

// What we see in most tutorials: const server = http.createServer((req, res) => { res.statusCode = 200; res.end('Hello World'); }); server.listen(3000); // 💥 Community nightmare begins 

fetch('/api/data') .then(response => response.json()) .then(data => console.log(data)); // undefined... AGAIN! 😤 

const http = require('http'); const server = http.createServer((req, res) => { // Request handling coming up... }); // 🛡️ No more silent server deaths server.on('error', (error) => { const communityFixes = { 'EADDRINUSE': '❌ Port 3000 busy. Community fix: lsof -ti:3000 | xargs kill', 'EACCES': '❌ Permission denied. Community fix: Try sudo or use port > 1024', 'ENOTFOUND': '❌ Invalid address. Community fix: Check your HOST settings' }; console.error(communityFixes[error.code] || `❌ Server error: ${error.message}`); console.error('💡 Share this error in DEV Community for quick help!'); process.exit(1); }); server.listen(3000, () => { console.log('✅ Server running on http://localhost:3000'); console.log('🎯 Target: 99.99% uptime (Industry avg: 99.45%)'); console.log('🚀 Ready for community testing!'); }); 

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => { const startTime = Date.now(); const requestId = Math.random().toString(36).substr(2, 9); // 📝 Team-friendly logging console.log(`📥 ${requestId} | ${req.method} ${req.url} | ${new Date().toISOString()}`); try { handleRequest(req, res, requestId, startTime); } catch (error) { // 🚨 Developer-friendly error responses console.error(`❌ ${requestId} | ERROR: ${error.message}`); sendErrorResponse(res, 500, 'Something went wrong', error.message, requestId, startTime); } }); function sendErrorResponse(res, statusCode, userMessage, debugMessage, requestId, startTime) { const responseTime = Date.now() - startTime; res.statusCode = statusCode; res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json'); res.end(JSON.stringify({ success: false, message: userMessage, debug: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' ? debugMessage : undefined, meta: { requestId, responseTime: `${responseTime}ms`, timestamp: new Date().toISOString() }, helpUrl: 'https://dev.to/arbythecoder' // 😉 Community support }, null, 2)); console.log(`❌ ${requestId} | ${statusCode} | ${responseTime}ms`); } 

// 💥 Prevent crashes that kill your reputation process.on('uncaughtException', (error) => { console.error('💥 COMMUNITY ALERT - UNCAUGHT EXCEPTION:', error.message); console.error('Stack:', error.stack); console.error('🔄 Graceful shutdown initiated...'); server.close(() => { console.error('✅ Server closed. Exiting.'); process.exit(1); }); }); // 🚫 Promise rejection handling process.on('unhandledRejection', (reason) => { console.error('🚫 UNHANDLED PROMISE - DEV COMMUNITY DEBUG:', reason); }); // 🛑 Professional shutdown handling process.on('SIGINT', () => { console.log('\n🛑 Community-friendly shutdown...'); server.close(() => { console.log('✅ Server closed gracefully. See you on DEV! 🚀'); process.exit(0); }); }); 

const http = require('http'); const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000; // Community-contributed verses (add your favorites!) const bibleVerses = [ { id: 1, verse: "For God so loved the world...", reference: "John 3:16", contributor: "DEV Community" }, { id: 2, verse: "I can do all things through Christ...", reference: "Phil 4:13", contributor: "@arbythecoder" }, { id: 3, verse: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart...", reference: "Prov 3:5-6", contributor: "Community Request" } ]; // 🛡️ Community-tested response helper function sendResponse(res, statusCode, data, message, requestId, startTime) { const responseTime = Date.now() - startTime; try { res.statusCode = statusCode; res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json'); res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '*'); // Community testing friendly const response = { success: statusCode < 400, message, data, meta: { requestId, responseTime: `${responseTime}ms`, timestamp: new Date().toISOString() }, community: 'Built with DEV Community feedback', author: '@arbythecoder' }; res.end(JSON.stringify(response, null, 2)); console.log(`${statusCode < 400 ? '✅' : '❌'} ${requestId} | ${statusCode} | ${responseTime}ms`); } catch (error) { console.error('❌ Response formatting failed (community debug):', error); res.statusCode = 500; res.end('{"error": "Response formatting failed - check DEV Community for help"}'); } } const server = http.createServer((req, res) => { const startTime = Date.now(); const requestId = Math.random().toString(36).substr(2, 9); console.log(`📥 ${requestId} | ${req.method} ${req.url}`); try { const url = new URL(req.url, `http://${req.headers.host}`); if (url.pathname === '/' && req.method === 'GET') { sendResponse(res, 200, { message: "Welcome to DEV Community Bible Verse API! 📖", endpoints: [ "GET /verse - Random community verse", "GET /verse?id=1 - Specific verse", "GET /health - API health check" ], stats: "Fighting the 67% API failure rate, one endpoint at a time", github: "Fork me on GitHub!", devTo: "@arbythecoder for collaboration" }, 'API documentation loaded', requestId, startTime); } else if (url.pathname === '/verse' && req.method === 'GET') { const id = url.searchParams.get('id'); if (id) { const verseId = parseInt(id, 10); if (isNaN(verseId) || verseId < 1) { sendResponse(res, 400, null, 'Invalid ID - Community tip: Use positive numbers only', requestId, startTime); return; } const verse = bibleVerses.find(v => v.id === verseId); if (verse) { sendResponse(res, 200, verse, 'Community verse delivered! 🙏', requestId, startTime); } else { sendResponse(res, 404, null, `Verse ${verseId} not found - Want to contribute? Hit up @arbythecoder`, requestId, startTime); } } else { // Community favorite: Random verse const randomVerse = bibleVerses[Math.floor(Math.random() * bibleVerses.length)]; sendResponse(res, 200, randomVerse, 'Community random pick! ✨', requestId, startTime); } } else if (url.pathname === '/health' && req.method === 'GET') { sendResponse(res, 200, { status: 'healthy', uptime: `${process.uptime().toFixed(2)}s`, memory: process.memoryUsage(), target: '99.99% uptime (vs industry avg 99.45%)', community: 'DEV Community approved!' }, 'API health check passed! 💚', requestId, startTime); } else { sendResponse(res, 404, null, `Route ${url.pathname} not found - Check our DEV Community docs`, requestId, startTime); } } catch (error) { console.error(`❌ ${requestId} | Request processing failed:`, error); sendResponse(res, 500, null, 'Internal server error - Community debugging needed', requestId, startTime); } }); // Apply all the error handling patterns from above... // [Include the server.on('error'), process handlers, etc.] 

# ✅ Test the happy path curl http://localhost:3000/ curl http://localhost:3000/verse curl http://localhost:3000/health # 🧪 Test error scenarios (let's break it together!) curl http://localhost:3000/invalid # 404 handling curl http://localhost:3000/verse?id=abc # Bad input handling  curl http://localhost:3000/verse?id=999 # Not found handling # 💥 Stress test (community favorite) # Run the server twice to test port conflicts