Now that the starter repo has been created and cloned to your local computer, let's review.

You will rename the environment file to .env, from .envsample.

This is important as .env is a recognized name using the "dotenv" package, while "envsample" is not.

As we will be using a Model - View - Controller, commonly known as MVC, design pattern for all development, it is also critical that the folders to hold the respective files also be created.

Finally, we will make extensive use of routes to direct incoming requests to the appropriate location to be processed and the resulting response to be returned to the client.

When creating new folders in VS Code, be sure to click in a blank area of the "Explorer" pane prior to creating the folder, assuming the folder belongs at the root of the project.

If the folder belongs inside another folder, click the parent folder prior to creating the new folder.

Take a minute to review the folders and files that should exist when done. From top to bottom, the folders should be: controllers, database, models, public, routes, utilities, views, .env, .gitignore, package.json, readme.md, and server.js.

Please note that all folders and files, except for the readme file should be lowercase and contain no spaces.

Let's take a moment and review what each of these do.

A controller is what it sounds like, it contains the code to control the process to deliver a response to an incoming request. It is the "brain" of the operation. All controllers will be stored in the controllers folder.

The database folder will hold file that describes how the application will interact with the database server. It will also be used to store SQL files.

A model is where SQL-based functions are stored to actually carry out data interactions between the project and the database server. All models will be stored in the models folder.

The public folder is where static files are stored. A static file is one that contains no dynamic code. Examples are images, CSS and client-side JavaScript files. All static files will be stored in the public folder.

A route file is one which describes a path that leads to the controller to process an incoming request. A typical application will consist of many routes stored in files. All route files will be stored in the routes folder.

Utilities are functions, stored in files that contain reusable code, that does not fall neatly into the MVC. All utility files will be stored in the utilities folder.

A view is a dynamic web page that is built by the server, with data retrieved from the database. It is referred to as a view, because it is typically delivered to a brower to be "viewed" by the client. All view files will be stored in the views folder.

As mentioned earlier, the .env file is where local environment variables are stored. These variables are typically for storing sensitive values.

The .gitignore file is where we list files and folders that will not be uploaded to GitHub.

The package.json file, as discussed in previous content, is the manifest of all resources needed in order for our project to function.

The readme.md file is  a markdown file, typically used to describe a github repository. This file is leftover from the template used to create this repository.

The server.js file is the project server. It describes how the application will work.

These are the basic folders and files of the project which imposes organization for us to use.