Ethereumjs testrpc getting 400 Bad Request when navigating to localhost:8545

Question

I've followed the instructions for installing ethereumjs testrpc (https://github.com/ethereumjs/testrpc)

I have Node v.6.9.1

I'm on macOS so I have XCode Command Line Tools installed.

Running npm install -g ethereumjs-testrpc completed without error.

Running which testrpc returns /usr/local/bin/testrpc

Then I run testrpc and no error occurs and it states Listening on localhost:8545

When I navigate to localhost:8545 I get 400 Bad Request.

I haven't done anything yet and I'm not sure why this is happening. Has anyone else come up against this issue when installing ethereumjs testrpc

Answer 1

TestRPC is a ethereum node client, which provides you with a sandbox blockchain, where there is no mining and virtually endless amounts of ether for developing and testing. You can use it for developing with Truffle, for example. The address you have there is the so called RPC address, it tells things where to find an ethereum node client. Therefore, you cannot open it in a browser.