In earlier hacks we were operating on the request and response objects using only the HTTP module. Node.js ships with another “core” module called Connect that provides an additional layer of functionality on top of HTTP.

The HTTP module’s createServer method returns an object that you can use to respond to HTTP requests. That object inherits the http.Server prototype.

Connect also offers a createServer method, which returns an object that inherits an extended version of http.Server. Connect’s extensions are mainly there to make it easy to plug in middleware. That’s why Connect describes itself as a “middleware framework.”