Node JS: Automatic selection of `http.get` vs `https.get`

Question

I have a Node JS app that needs to download a file, given a URL at run-time.

The URL may be either http:// or https://.

How do I best cater for the different protocols?

At the moment I have:

var http = require('http'); var https = require('https');  var protocol = (parsedUrl.protocol == 'https:' ? https : http); protocol.get(parsedUrl, function(res) {   ... }); 

... but it feels clunky.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I had a similar need, but didn't need the full blown request or needle libraries, I have the following code (which is slightly different)

var adapterFor = (function() {   var url = require('url'),     adapters = {       'http:': require('http'),       'https:': require('https'),     };    return function(inputUrl) {     return adapters[url.parse(inputUrl).protocol]   } }()); //.. and when I need it adapterFor(url).get(url, ...) 

Answer 2

There's a bunch of modules you could use instead, like request or needle. They'll figure out which protocol to use, and how to handle redirects (if required) and such.