Express 5.0 is still in the beta release stage, but here is a preview of the changes that will be in the release and how to migrate your Express 4 app to Express 5.
To install the latest beta and to preview Express 5, enter the following command in your application root directory:
$ npm install "express@>=5.0.0-beta.1" --save
You can then run your automated tests to see what fails, and fix problems according to the updates listed below. After addressing test failures, run your app to see what errors occur. You’ll find out right away if the app uses any methods or properties that are not supported.
Removed methods and properties
Changed
Improvements
If you use any of these methods or properties in your app, it will crash. So, you’ll need to change your app after you update to version 5.
Express 5 no longer supports the app.del() function. If you use this function an error is thrown. For registering HTTP DELETE routes, use the app.delete() function instead.
Initially del was used instead of delete, because delete is a reserved keyword in JavaScript. However, as of ECMAScript 6, delete and other reserved keywords can legally be used as property names.
The app.param(fn) signature was used for modifying the behavior of the app.param(name, fn) function. It has been deprecated since v4.11.0, and Express 5 no longer supports it at all.
The following method names have been pluralized. In Express 4, using the old methods resulted in a deprecation warning. Express 5 no longer supports them at all:
req.acceptsCharset() is replaced by req.acceptsCharsets().
req.acceptsEncoding() is replaced by req.acceptsEncodings().
req.acceptsLanguage() is replaced by req.acceptsLanguages().
A leading colon character (:) in the name for the app.param(name, fn) function is a remnant of Express 3, and for the sake of backwards compatibility, Express 4 supported it with a deprecation notice. Express 5 will silently ignore it and use the name parameter without prefixing it with a colon.
This should not affect your code if you follow the Express 4 documentation of app.param, as it makes no mention of the leading colon.
This potentially confusing and dangerous method of retrieving form data has been removed. You will now need to specifically look for the submitted parameter name in the req.params, req.body, or req.query object.
Express 5 no longer supports the signature res.json(obj, status). Instead, set the status and then chain it to the res.json() method like this: res.status(status).json(obj).
Express 5 no longer supports the signature res.jsonp(obj, status). Instead, set the status and then chain it to the res.jsonp() method like this: res.status(status).jsonp(obj).
Express 5 no longer supports the signature res.send(obj, status). Instead, set the status and then chain it to the res.send() method like this: res.status(status).send(obj).
Express 5 no longer supports the signature res.send(status), where status is a number. Instead, use the res.sendStatus(statusCode) function, which sets the HTTP response header status code and sends the text version of the code: “Not Found”, “Internal Server Error”, and so on. If you need to send a number by using the res.send() function, quote the number to convert it to a string, so that Express does not interpret it as an attempt to use the unsupported old signature.
The res.sendfile() function has been replaced by a camel-cased version res.sendFile() in Express 5.
Path route matching syntax is when a string is supplied as the first parameter to the app.all(), app.use(), app.METHOD(), router.all(), router.METHOD(), and router.use() APIs. The following changes have been made to how the path string is matched to an incoming request:
?, *, and + parameter modifiers.(*) is no longer valid and must be written as (.*), for example.req.params. /:foo(.*) only captures as req.params.foo and not available as req.params[0]./\\d+ is no longer valid and must be written as /(\\d+).* path segment behavior removed. /foo/*/bar will match a literal * as the middle segment.Request middleware and handlers that return rejected promises are now handled by forwarding the rejected value as an Error to the error handling middleware. This means that using async functions as middleware and handlers are easier than ever. When an error is thrown in an async function or a rejected promise is awaited inside an async function, those errors will be passed to the error handler as if calling next(err).
Details of how Express handles errors is covered in the error handling documentation.
The app.router object, which was removed in Express 4, has made a comeback in Express 5. In the new version, this object is a just a reference to the base Express router, unlike in Express 3, where an app had to explicitly load it.
In Express 4, the req.host function incorrectly stripped off the port number if it was present. In Express 5 the port number is maintained.
The req.query property is no longer a writable property and is instead a getter. The default query parser has been changed from “extended” to “simple”.
This method now enforces asynchronous behavior for all view engines, avoiding bugs caused by view engines that had a synchronous implementation and that violated the recommended interface.
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https://expressjs.com/en/guide/migrating-5.html