NodeJS Electron with express

Two things.

First I'd clarify your pathing setup and usage, more like this:

const publicPath = path.resolve(__dirname, '/views');// point for static assetsapp.use(express.static(publicPath));//view engine setupapp.set('views', path.join(__dirname, '/views/'));app.engine('html', require('ejs').renderFile);app.set('view engine', 'html');

Second, I would wrap all my express code into a single file that is a self-executing function, so it runs once when you require it. Such as my express file which I call my app.js file:

'use strict';(function () {    const express = require('express');    const path = require('path');    const logger = require('morgan');    const cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');    const bodyParser = require('body-parser');    const routes = require('./routes.js');    const app = express();    const publicPath = path.resolve(__dirname, '../dist');    const port = 3000;    // point for static assets    app.use(express.static(publicPath));    //view engine setup    app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, '../dist'));    app.engine('html', require('ejs').renderFile);    app.set('view engine', 'html');    app.use(logger('dev'));    app.use(bodyParser.json());    app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({        extended:true    }));    app.use('/', routes);    app.use(cookieParser());    const server = app.listen(port, () => console.log(`Express server listening on port ${port}`));    module.exports = app;}());

Then in my main file (which I call main.js not app.js, in my case), I instantiate the app and the express server as follows:

'use strict';const app = require('electron').app;const Window = require('electron').BrowserWindow; // jshint ignore:lineconst Tray = require('electron').Tray; // jshint ignore:lineconst Menu = require('electron').Menu; // jshint ignore:lineconst fs = require('fs');const server = require('./ServerSide/app');let mainWindow = null;app.on('ready', function () {     const path = require('path');    const iconPath = path.resolve(__dirname, './dist/myicon.ico');    const appIcon = new Tray(iconPath);    mainWindow = new Window({        width: 1280,        height: 1024,        autoHideMenuBar: false,        useContentSize: true,        resizable: true,        icon: iconPath        //  'node-integration': false // otherwise various client-side things may break    });    appIcon.setToolTip('My Cool App');    mainWindow.loadURL('http://localhost:3000/');    // remove this for production    var template = [        {            label: 'View',            submenu: [                {                    label: 'Reload',                    accelerator: 'CmdOrCtrl+R',                    click: function(item, focusedWindow) {                        if (focusedWindow) {                            focusedWindow.reload();                        }                    }                },                {                    label: 'Toggle Full Screen',                    accelerator: (function() {                        if (process.platform === 'darwin') {                            return 'Ctrl+Command+F';                        } else {                            return 'F11';                        }                    })(),                    click: function(item, focusedWindow) {                        if (focusedWindow) {                            focusedWindow.setFullScreen(!focusedWindow.isFullScreen());                        }                    }                },                {                    label: 'Toggle Developer Tools',                    accelerator: (function() {                        if (process.platform === 'darwin') {                            return 'Alt+Command+I';                        } else {                            return 'Ctrl+Shift+I';                        }                    })(),                    click: function(item, focusedWindow) {                        if (focusedWindow) {                            focusedWindow.toggleDevTools();                        }                    }                }            ]        }    ];    const menu = Menu.buildFromTemplate(template);    Menu.setApplicationMenu(menu);    mainWindow.focus();});// shut down all parts to app after windows all closed.app.on('window-all-closed', function () {    app.quit();});

Note that I am using this with success on Windows platform, so small tweaks may be needed for any platform specific items listed in this example.