To read data from a MySQL database in Node.js, you can use the popular mysql2 or mysql package. Here’s a basic guide using mysql2:

Step-by-Step Process:

1. Install MySQL package: First, you need to install the mysql2 package using npm. npm install mysql2
2. Create a MySQL connection: Set up the MySQL connection to your database.
3. Execute a query to read data: Use the query() method to fetch data from a specific table.

Example Code:

// Step 1: Import the mysql2 package
const mysql = require('mysql2');

// Step 2: Create a connection to the MySQL database
const connection = mysql.createConnection({
  host: 'localhost',     // MySQL host
  user: 'root',          // MySQL user
  password: 'password',  // MySQL password
  database: 'your_database_name' // Your database name
});

// Step 3: Connect to the database
connection.connect((err) => {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Error connecting: ' + err.stack);
    return;
  }
  console.log('Connected to the database');
});

// Step 4: Query the database to read data
connection.query('SELECT * FROM your_table_name', (err, results) => {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Error in query: ' + err.stack);
    return;
  }
  console.log('Data from the table:', results);
});

// Step 5: Close the connection
connection.end();

Explanation:

• mysql.createConnection(): Establishes a connection to the MySQL database by specifying connection parameters like host, user, password, and database.
• connection.query(): Executes a SQL query. In this case, SELECT * FROM your_table_name fetches all rows from the specified table.
• results: The results of the query are returned as an array of objects, where each object represents a row of data from the table.
• connection.end(): Closes the connection to the database once the operation is complete.

Notes:

• Replace 'your_database_name' and 'your_table_name' with your actual database and table names.
• You can modify the query to fetch specific columns or add conditions (e.g., SELECT id, name FROM users WHERE age > 30).