SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier

Question

I am new to node.js. I created a file named app.js and put this code in that file using express to switch the template engine:

//module dependencies

var express = require('express');
    routes = require ('./routes');
    user = require ('./routes/user');
    http= require ('http');
    path = require ('path');

var exphbs = require ('express3-handlebars');
var app = express();

//all environement
app.set ('port', process.env.PORT || 3000);
app.set('views', __dirname +'/views');
//app.set('view engine','jade');
app.engine('handlebars',exphbs({defaultLayout :'main'}));
app.set('view engine ','handlebars');
app.use(express.favicon());
app.use(express.logger('dev'));
app.use(express.bodyParser());
app.use(express.methodOverride());
app.use(app.router);
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname,'public')));

//developpement only
if ('developpement' == app.get('env')){
    app.use(express.errorHandler());
}

//app.get('/', routes.index);
//app.get ('/user' , user.list);
app.get('/' , function(req,res) {
    res.render('home');
}
http.createServer(app).listen(app.get('port'), function(){
  console.log("Express server listening on port " + app.get('port'));
});

Then I run the application and get this error:

http.createServer(app).listen(app.get('port'), function(){
^^^^
SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier
    at Module._compile (module.js:439:25)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:474:10)
    at Module.load (module.js:356:32)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
    at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:497:10)
    at startup (node.js:119:16)
    at node.js:929:3

This line is causing the error:

http.createServer(app).listen(app.get('port'), function(){

Answer 1

You are missing a closing brace in

app.get('/' , function(req,res) {
  res.render('home');
}) // <-- the last one

You should use an editor that provides proper syntax highlighting and a code linter - like jshint which would warn you about this and also warn you about improper variable declarations:

var onevar = 'value'; // <-- superbad! You just ended this statement!
    another = 'val2'; // <-- now this variable leaked into global scope!
// Proper:
var onevar = 'value';
var another = 'val2';
// Also proper:
var onevar = 'value',
    another = 'val2';

The SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier is always a typo (or you trying to do something JavaScript does not understand) somewhere in your code and usually happens before the unexpected identifier. Oversimplified, it basically means that the parser was in the middle of some statement and, according to the grammar rules, the thing that followed was not acceptable for that particular situation.