title: Rendering react with node.js in development
body: <p>I am (very) new to node.js and I am trying to get a development environment started with React.</p>
  <pre><code>const express = require('express')
  const mongoose = require('mongoose')
  const app = express()
  
  // this displays the index.html file
  app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
  // trying to see the app.js
  app.get('/',  (req, res) =&gt; {
   
    res.render('app')
  })
  
  
  
  app.listen(process.env.PORT || 5000);
  </code></pre>
  <p>Right now I am simply trying to be able to view my app.js when I run nodemon. But right now it is only showing the index.html file in the <code>public</code> folder. and when I run <code>npm start</code> it renders both the index.html and the app.js.
  <br />
  I am 100% doing something wrong and am not in my element here. Any help/advice would be appreciated.
  <br /> My full repo is here for viewing <a href="https://github.com/Imstupidpleasehelp/urlshortener" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>
  Thank you in advance.</p>