Using Nodejs Along Side Firebase
<p>I am about to start developing my web application in Firebase. Problem is, currently I have 100s of questions running through my head, and nothing I can find online specifically answers such.</p>

<p>Now from what I understand you can ONLY host assets on Firebase hosting (HTML, CSS, JS), and if you have a backend (such as Node) you will have to use a separate hosting service (like Heroku).</p>

<p>Firebase hosting implies that everything can be done from the browser, but I am not sure how I would get around using a backend.</p>

<p>For instance, if the user enters the url <code>http://___.com/login</code> I would route that in Express to <code>login.html</code>. Also if a user types in <code>/index</code> or <code>/home</code> or even nothing, it would take them to <code>index.html</code>. <strong>How would I go about doing this without a backend?</strong></p>

<p>Another big question I have is templating. <strong>On Node there are many templating engines, is there such a thing though when just using the frontend?</strong> </p>

<p><strong>Would there be a way to get around those two issues above without using a backend?</strong> I can see some benefits when using a backend such as server side rendering, and using third-party services such as Sendgrid. <strong>But what else would I get out of using a backend such as Node?</strong></p>

<p>I guess I am just a bit confused on how a web application could be done without a backend (that you can access and control). I do not see how templating, routing, and many other things can be controlled by just the browser, and hosted within Firebase.</p>

<p>I plan on using Node (unless all of this is possible without a backend), and I am intending on using React and Redux as well. <strong>Can Firebase, Node, React and Redux all be used together?</strong></p>

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<p>I know there are a ton of questions above, but I just can not wrap my head around it all. I put all of my main question in bold, thank you!</p>