I’m considering using Express framework in my next node.js project. However, a stumbling block for me is non-existence of URL generation for routes like in most other non-Sinatra based frameworks, examples- Django, Flask, Rails etc.
I tried looking for some Connect middleware to serve my task and I did find Barista, Escort, Sherpa and the likes but looking at their GitHub pages, all seem dead and in-active. So, I don’t want to go for something that’s not maintained anymore for obvious reasons.
My main concern here is that the project may get really large and it WILL be a pain to update URLs in every page whenever business and/or aesthetic requirements change.
Is there something that I failed to see in the docs/tests? If not, then how do I extend the routing framework in Express to do URL generation and make this wrapper available in my views as well as controller functions?
UPDATE: (22/3/2012) I found this page: https://github.com/clyfe/tweet_express/wiki/TODO which specified some routers that do URL generation and stumbled upon the escort router which can also interface with express.
You might try Locomotive, which is built on Express.
It does much more than route generation. From the docs: “Locomotive brings additional MVC-based structure, for architecting larger applications, while leveraging the power of Express and Connect middleware.”
Locomotive’s router generates helpers that are automatically available to controllers and views.