HTTP & Servers — Chapter Quiz

Question 1

1

Which module starts an HTTP server with no extra dependencies?

AexpressBnode:httpCfastifyDkoa

node:http is built in. Every web framework (Express, Fastify, Next.js) is built on top of it.

Question 2

2

Node 18+ has a built-in fetch — no need for axios or node-fetch.

TTrueFFalse

fetch (and Headers, Response, FormData) are global in Node 18+. Same API as the browser.

Question 3

3

What is the safest way to set a session cookie?

ASet-Cookie: session=...; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=LaxBSet-Cookie: session=...; JavaScript=trueCSet-Cookie: session=...; HTTP=trueDSet-Cookie: session=...; Visible=false

HttpOnly (JS can't read), Secure (HTTPS only), SameSite=Lax (CSRF protection) is the modern minimum.

Question 4

4

What is Server-Sent Events (SSE) best for?

ATwo-way real-time chatBServer → client push (live feeds, AI tokens)CFile uploadsDDatabase replication

SSE is one-way (server → client). Simpler than WebSockets, with auto-reconnect. WebSockets handle two-way traffic.

Question 5

5

Why do production setups usually NOT terminate TLS in Node?

ANode cannot do HTTPSBA reverse proxy (Nginx, Cloudflare) handles TLS, certs, HTTP/2 more cheaplyCHTTPS is slow in NodeDTLS is insecure on Node

Reverse proxies do TLS, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, compression, cert renewal — Node just speaks plain HTTP to them on localhost.

Question 6

6

To serve a video file with constant memory regardless of size, you should ___ it to the response.

Stream / pipe the file to the response. res.end(bigBuffer) buffers everything in memory first.

Question 7

7

Inside a request handler, the URL is on req.url. To extract the path and query:

Anew URL(req.url, http://${req.headers.host})Breq.parseUrl()Creq.path and req.queryDreq.url.split("?")

The whatwg URL constructor parses pathname, searchParams, etc. — works the same as in the browser. Express adds the req.path/req.query shortcuts on top.

Question 8

8

What's the safe pattern for setting a request timeout?

Afetch(url, { timeout: 5000 })Bfetch(url, { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000) })CWrap fetch in setTimeoutDUse Promise.race with a sleep

AbortSignal.timeout(ms) is the standard way to bound a fetch. Built-in, idiomatic, plays nicely with cancellation chains.

Test what you learned.