When building web applications, it's important to manage user authentication securely. Two essential libraries for this are:
bcryptjs – used to hash and compare passwords securely.
JSON web token – used to sign and verify JWT tokens for user authentication.
We will cover how to implement these two libraries in your Node.js application for secure password management and token-based authentication.
How to: Use bcryptjs and jsonwebtoken in Node.js
When building web applications, it's important to manage user authentication securely. Two essential libraries for this are:
1. Install the library:
Instal package
npm install bcryptjs
Now let me show you how to do the magic.
2 . Hashing and Compare Password Like A Pro
Same old, same old, make a new js file and always remember to require the package.
const { hashSync, compareSync } = require("bcryptjs");
module.exports = {
hashPassword: (password) => hashSync(password),
comparePassword: (password, hashed) => compareSync(password, hashed
};
How it works:
hashSync(password): Hashes the user's password.
compareSync(password, hashedPassword): Compares the plain text password with the hashed version to validate user login.
3. Using jsonwebtoken for Token-Based Authentication
Install the package:
npm install jsonwebtoken
jsonwebtoken allows us to create a secure token (JWT) for each authenticated user. This token is sent to the client and can be used to authenticate the user on subsequent requests.
const { sign, verify } = require('jsonwebtoken');
const secretkey = "yoursecretkey"; // Secret key to sign the token
module.exports = {
logToken: (payload) => log(payload, secretkey), // Create JWT token
verifyToken: (token) => verify(token, secretkey) // Verify JWT token
};
How it works:
signToken(payload): Creates a signed JWT with the given payload (e.g., user data) using a secret key.
verifyToken(token): Verifies the authenticity of the JWT token using the same secret key.
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