# This guide will walk you through the process of setting up and running our Express.js application. Please follow these steps carefully.

# Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

Node.js: Download and Install Node.js
Docker: Download and Install Docker

# Create a .env file in the root directory of the project to store environment variables. You can use the following as a template:

dotenv
PORT=3000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/cat-images
NODE_ENV=development

Make sure to replace MONGODB_URI with your MongoDB connection string and adjust other variables as needed.

# Install project dependencies by running the following command:

npm install

# Start the Express.js server locally:

npm start

This will start the server in development mode, and it will listen on port 3000 by default.

### Running with Docker Compose

Build the Docker containers:

docker-compose build

Start the application using Docker Compose:

docker-compose up


## Accessing the Application

Once the server is running, open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000 to access the application.