A Simple Localhost Server

Supports:
Windows and Mac OS

Step 1:
Download and install Nodejs.

Step 2:
Write the Javascript shown below in your favorite editor. I recommend Sublime Text. Save the file in a  folder where your javascript/html files will reside. Call the file server.js.

/**  *A simple localhost web server.  */ var http = require('http'); var fs = require('fs'); var url = require('url'); // Create a server http.createServer( function (request, response) {     // Parse the request containing file name    var pathname = url.parse(request.url).pathname;       // Print the name of the file for which request is made.    console.log("Request for " + pathname + " received.");       // Read the requested file content from file system    fs.readFile(pathname.substr(1), function (err, data) {       if (err) {          console.log(err);          // HTTP Status: 404 : NOT FOUND          // Content Type: text/plain          response.writeHead(404, {'Content-Type': 'text/html'});       }else{             //Page found               // HTTP Status: 200 : OK          // Content Type: text/plain          response.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/html'});                      // Write the content of the file to response body          response.write(data.toString());              }       // Send the response body       response.end();    });   }).listen(8081); // Console will print the message console.log('Server running at http://127.0.0.1:8081/');

Step 3:
Go to your command prompt.
Windows: Start > run> cmd
Mac: Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal

Step 4:
Go to that directory and run:
node server.js 

Step 5:
If you haven't put any other files in this directory, put a simple index.html file with some text in it just to verify that this works. 

Step 6:
Launch your favorite browser and go to: http://127.0.0.1:8081/index.html