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node.jshttpexpressresponse

Node.js - Return res.status VS res.status

I am curious about the difference of returning a response and just creating a response.

I have seen a vast amount of code examples using both return res.status(xxx).json(x) and res.status(xxx).json(x).

Is anyone able to elaborate on the difference between the two?

Solution

  • If you have a condition and you want to exit early you would use return because calling res.send() more than once will throw an error. For example: 

    //...Fetch a post from db

if(!post){
  // Will return response and not run the rest of the code after next line
  return res.status(404).send({message: "Could not find post."})
}

//...Do some work (ie. update post)

// Return response
res.status(200).send({message: "Updated post successfuly"})