Node.js server won't run after I put it in a module

Question

I'm just getting started with node.js, and I'm working through a tutorial. I created a server with the code here:

var http = require("http");

http.createServer(function(request, response) {
    response.writeHead(200, {"Content-Type": "text/plain"});
    response.write("Hello World");
    response.end();
}).listen(8888);

When I run that with node (node server.js) it works. I can got to localhost:8888 and there is a hello world. The next step in the tutorial is creating a server module and then running it from an index.js file. I have copied the tutorial verbatim, and the code is as follows:

index.js:

var server = require("./server");

server.start;

server.js:

var http = require("http");

function start() {
    function onRequest(request, response) {
        console.log("Request received.");
        response.writeHead(200, {"Content-Type": "text/plain"});
        response.write("Hello World");
        response.end();
    }

    http.createServer(onRequest).listen(8888);
    console.log("Server has started.");
}

exports.start = start;

Unfortunately node when i try to run the code (node index.js), nothing happens. Going to localhost:8888 gives a can't be reached page. This is from a section in The Node Beginner Book, which I recently purchased. What's going wrong with my code?

Answer 1

You are not calling the function, try:

server.start();