直接从该node.js应用静态提供的html访问node.js应用功能

Question

OK so I may be asking too much here and/or showing my naivety, but bear with me.

At present I have an html (with js) hosted at A, and node.js app hosted at B. The html/js fetches data from the node app via a XMLHttpRequest , and the node app at B dutifully generates the requested data and sends it to A.

I'm trying to reduce the number of http requests generally, and to streamline the performance generally, and wonder whether it's possible to host the html/js via the node app (via express.static() ) at A so that when the html/js requests data from the node server, it's actually requesting data from the same server, and indeed all within the same app (since the node app is generating the data and the node app is also exposing the html/js to a static route).

So is there any way for the js in the html to access the node app functions more directly, ie rather than sending an http request to the same node app, just accesses the data-generating function within the node app directly, or at least without using an http request?

I have things set up in my node app so that the html/js can be hosted succesfully via express.static() -- so it's working OK to that extent -- but I just need to know whether it's possible to avoid an http request all the way round a big loop and back to the same node app!

Answer 1

The simple answer is, if A and B are far apart, yes, hosting them on the same server will help.

Serving them from the same application won't help as you'll still need to talk via HTTP.

The question of whether you can remove the HTTP calls from A to B is down to application design. You have a static web app and an API and you're basically thinking of scraping that and making it one application.

There are pros and cons to both but I'll be going down the road of personal opinion if I start listing them.

My vote, don't bother :)

Answer 2

When you serve html and js files by express.static() they are not running in server, but serve from server to browser. And so that js scripts are running from browser. Browser scripts to communicate with server, must use http/https requests or sockets. You can communicate browser scripts from server A with server B (but checkout CORS).