node.js page refresh calling resources twice?

Question

I have a basic node.js setup, but I think I'm missing something.

My main.js:

var a = require('./another.js');

var http = require('http');
http.createServer(function (request, response) {
    response.writeHead(200, 
    {
        'Content-Type': 'text/html'
    });

    response.write(a.saysomething('Hi there!') + '<br />');
    response.end();
}).listen(27182);

console.log('Server running at http://127.0.0.1:27182/');

My another.js:

exports.saysomething = function (str) {
    console.log('in saysomething!');
    return str + ' hey there!';
}

The issue is that my console is outputting in saysomething! twice. Am I missing something? When I refresh the page, I expect only one in saysomething!.

Answer 1

Your browser is likely trying to get favicon.ico in addition to the url you are hitting. Try to just do the command on the command line: curl http://127.0.0.1:27182/

Also, you can add logging for request.url. That will show you which urls are being requested.

Answer 2

Here's another way to understand the problem. This node server will track all the requests and show them to you on the browser in JSON. Then you can hit F5 and watch the requests you are making.

    var http = require("http");

    var messages = [];

    http.createServer(function(request, response) {
      console.log("We got a hit @ " + new Date());          
      messages.push(request.url);
      messages.push(request.headers);

      response.writeHead(200, {"Content-Type": "text/plain"});
      for ( var i = 0; i < messages.length; ++i ) {
        response.write("\n\n" + JSON.stringify(messages[i]));
      }
      response.end();
    }).listen(8888);

PS: See also this duplicate for more info nodejs - http.createServer seems to call twice