Node.js' http.Server and http.createServer, what's the difference?

Question

What is the difference between:

http.Server(function(req,res) {});

and

http.createServer(function(req, res) {});

Answer 1

Based on the source code of nodejs (extract below), createServer is just a helper method to instantiate a Server.

Extract from line 1674 of http.js.

exports.Server = Server;   exports.createServer = function(requestListener) {   return new Server(requestListener); }; 

So therefore the only true difference in the two code snippets you've mentioned in your original question, is that you're not using the new keyword.

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For clarity the Server constructor is as follows (at time of post - 2012-12-13):

function Server(requestListener) {   if (!(this instanceof Server)) return new Server(requestListener);   net.Server.call(this, { allowHalfOpen: true });    if (requestListener) {     this.addListener('request', requestListener);   }    // Similar option to this. Too lazy to write my own docs.   // http://www.squid-cache.org/Doc/config/half_closed_clients/   // http://wiki.squid-cache.org/SquidFaq/InnerWorkings#What_is_a_half-closed_filedescriptor.3F   this.httpAllowHalfOpen = false;    this.addListener('connection', connectionListener);    this.addListener('clientError', function(err, conn) {     conn.destroy(err);   }); } util.inherits(Server, net.Server);