Auto-generating an Express app

The process of creating the manifest file, the app.js file, the views, and other directories and files can become a tedious chore as we start to work on multiple projects. To automate this process, we can use the express command-line tool.

To refresh you memory, we first encountered the express command-line tool while learning how to install Express. We were told that it generates Express app skeletons; now we have a fairly good idea what it might do.

Using its help option (-h), let's ask express how it works and what its options are:

$ express –h

  Usage: express [options] [directory]

  Options:

    -h, --help          output usage information
    -V, --version       output the version number
    -s, --sessions      add session support
    -e, --ejs           add ejs engine support (defaults to jade)
    -J, --jshtml        add jshtml engine support (defaults to jade)
    -H, --hogan         add hogan.js engine support
    -c, --css <engine>  add stylesheet...