What is the difference between middleware and routes in web development?

What is the difference between middleware and routes in web development?

Middleware functions are functions that have access to the request, response, and the next middleware function in the application’s request-response cycle. They can modify the request and response objects, end the request-response cycle, and call the next middleware function.

Can you give me an example of middleware?

Sure! A common example of middleware is the body-parser middleware, which parses incoming request bodies in a middleware before your handlers, available under the req.body property.

And what about routes?

Routes are the endpoints in your application that define how the application responds to client requests. They specify the URL and the HTTP method (GET, POST, etc.) that the server should listen to.

So, middleware can be used in routes?

Exactly! Middleware can be applied to routes to perform tasks like authentication, logging, or data validation before the route handler is executed.