HELP: Basic Node and Express - Use the .env File

1

Hi FCC,

I am having trouble understanding the challenges in this particular learning module. I actually started studying Node.js using some other resources because they explained concepts in a way I understood. After a few weeks, I decided to come back to FCC to try my hand at the NodeJS challenges. The first few were easy, having established a better understanding for how NodeJS works. However, I am once again stumped (and am frustrated enough to go back to using other resources before returning again).

To me, the directions for this challenge are not written well enough that a beginner like me knows what an environmental variable is or or even how to attach it. For example, the author writes:

The environment variables are accessible from the app as process.env.VAR_NAME . The process.env object is a global Node object, and variables are passed as strings.

As a beginner without any additional context I wonder does this mean the syntax is: var process.env = "VAR_NAME"?

Then the author goes on to write:

The .env is a shell file, so you don’t need to wrap [variable] names or values in quotes. It is also important to note that there cannot be space around the equals sign when you are assigning values to your variables, e.g. VAR_NAME=value

However, when after over a half hour of trying on my own and finally clicking the ‘Get Hint’ button, the syntax for part of the hint is VAR_NAME === "value".

Some clarity (and an editor) would be much appreciated for these challenges. I have used FCC on and off for the past year and found my interest in programming thanks to the thought out challenges of the front-end and Algorithm modules and the incredibly supportive community! Sadly, I don’t feel these later certifications have been given as much attention to detail as the earlier ones. On the forum I only found ~5 responses regarding this challenge, two of which were not at all helpful.

What I would like answered are:

  • What is the standard syntax for creating a user defined environment variable (e.g. using var or const keyword, etc.)?

  • After creating the variable, what is the proper way to store it to the .env object?

  • How do we call the process.env.VAR_NAME=value object? Must the value still be cited, or is using the name enough?

Thank you in advance.

2

When you want to use the env variable in your code you then use

3

Thank you for your reply.

So to confirm, adding the ‘=value’ is unnecessary when referencing a user defined environment variable elsewhere in the code?

Is the following appropriate syntax for creating a user-defined environment variable? If not, what should the syntax be (explicitly)?

var myVal = [string | number | function];
var MY_VAR=myVal; //intentionally without spacing
process.env.MY_VAR // intentionally without the "const" or "var" keyword

Any additional clarification would help because these challenges don’t offer examples/models like the challenges in previous certification modules; and the console log doesn’t give a hint to exactly where the error is.

4

I did these challenges in the old curriculum, but I can provide a bit of insight.

The .env file is a seperate file from your backend .JS file. it is simply called .env

within the .env file you will need to specify your variables like so:

PORT=3000

now, within your backend .JS file, you can call your environment variables like so:

const port = process.env.PORT
console.log (port) // 3000

If you are using glitch.com, I think the .env file is applied automatically. If not, you may need to use an npm module called “dotenv” to read in your variables.

5

Thank you for your reply. I moved part of my code over to the .env file and was able to pass.

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6

Looks like you got it. If it helps, in the env file you don’t need to use var MY_VAR=. var isn’t necessary just use MY_VAR= with no spaces around the equal sign and no quotes.

7

I don’t see the .env file anywhere. I was watching a youtube video on this exercise and it’s right there but it doesn’t show up on mine. I even went back and went to a clean glitch file and it’s still not there.

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