Express example without modifying the app object

[reecefenwick]

Hi I am looking to implement waterline and struggling to find the most efficient way of implementing this with my express application.

I want to avoid modifying the app or req objects as:

1. My controllers don't have access to the app object
2. Introduces tight coupling between modules

I currently manage my database connection like so with mongoose:

var mongoose = require('mongoose');

mongoose.connect(config.get('dbURI'));

mongoose.connection.on('error', function (err) {
    logger.error('database connection error', arguments);
});

mongoose.connection.on('open', function () {
    logger.log('Connected to the database');
});

Then in any of my controllers I simply just require my mongoose models.

Is there a way I can take a similar approach?

Or am I forced to initialize before I start listening for requests since the initialize step is asynchronous?