Prerequisites

Before diving into the integration process, ensure you have Node.js installed on your machine. You can download it from the official Node.js website if you haven't already.

Step 1: Initializing the Node.js Application

Let's kickstart our project by initializing a new Node.js application. Open your terminal and navigate to your project directory. Execute the following command:

npm init -y

This command initializes a new Node.js project with default settings.

Step 2: Installing Dependencies

Next, install the necessary dependencies for our project. Run the following command in your terminal:

npm install express ejs

npm install nodemon tailwindcss -D

Here, we're installing Express as our web framework, EJS as our view engine, and dev dependencies like Nodemon for auto-reloading the server during development and Tailwind CSS for our styling needs.

Step 3: Configuring Tailwind CSS

After installing Tailwind CSS, initialize it within your project directory by running:

npx tailwindcss init

This command generates a tailwindcss.config.js file in your project root, allowing you to configure Tailwind CSS according to your preferences.

Step 4: Configuring Scripts

In your package.json file, add the following scripts to facilitate development and styling:

These scripts enable you to start the server, run it in development mode with auto-reloading, and watch for changes in your Tailwind CSS files.

Step 5: Setting Up Project Structure

Create a public folder at the root level of your project. Within the public folder, create a css directory and add input.css and output.css files.

Step 6: Configuring Server and Views

In your index.js file, configure the server to use EJS as the view engine and serve static files from the public directory. Here's a sample configuration:

This setup ensures that your server is configured to serve EJS files from the views directory and static assets from the public directory.

Step 7: Creating Views

Inside the views directory, create an home.ejs file with the following content:

This view utilizes Tailwind CSS classes to style the content.

Step 8: Running the Application

Now, fire up your terminal and execute the following commands in separate terminals:

npm run dev

npm run style

The first command starts your Node.js server, while the second one watches for changes in your Tailwind CSS files and compiles them accordingly.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've successfully integrated Tailwind CSS with your Node.js application, paving the way for visually appealing and responsive web development. Feel free to explore further customization options and unleash your creativity.

For the complete code and setup instructions, visit the GitHub repository.

Github link : https://github.com/NegativE333/nodejs-tailwindcss-boilerplateClick here