RESTful services have become the de facto standard data feed providers for social services, news feeds, and mobile devices. They deliver a large amount of data to millions of users. Thus, they need to address high-availability requirements, such as reliability and scalability. This book will show you how to utilize the Node.js platform to implement a robust and performant data service. By the end of this book, you will have learned how to implement a real-life RESTful service, taking advantage of the modern NoSQL database to serve both JSON and binary content. Important topics, such as correct URI structuring and security features, are also covered, with detailed examples, showing you everything you need to know to start implementing the robust RESTful APIs that serve content to your applications.
This book targets developers who want to enrich their development skills by learning how to develop scalable, server-side, RESTful applications based on the Node.js platform. You also need to be aware of HTTP communication concepts and should have a working knowledge of the JavaScript language. Keep in mind that this is not a book that will teach you how to program in JavaScript. Knowledge of REST will be an added advantage but is definitely not a necessity.
Chapter 1, REST – What You Did Not Know, gives you a brief introduction to the history of REST and how it couples with the HTTP protocol.
Chapter 2, Getting Started with Node.js, teaches you how to install Node.js and how to work with its package manager to install modules. You'll also develop your first HTTP server application and write automated unit tests for HTTP handler using mock request objects.
Chapter 3, Building a Typical Web API, takes you through structuring your application using human-readable URL and URI parameters. You will get to develop a read-only RESTful service application, using the filesystem for storage.
Chapter 4, Using NoSQL Databases, showcases how to use the MongoDB NoSQL database, and explains the foundation of document data stores.
Chapter 5, Restful API Design Guidelines, explains that there are a number of prerequisites that a RESTful API should meet.
Chapter 6, Implementing a Full-Fledged RESTful Service, focuses on implementing a production-ready RESTful service that uses NoSQL to store its data. You will get to learn how to handle binary data and how to version an API while it evolves.
Chapter 7, Preparing a RESTful API for Production, explains that feature complete and full-fledged implementations aren't necessarily production-ready.
Chapter 8, Consuming a RESTful API, showcases a sample frontend client that serves as a consumption reference implementation.
Chapter 9, Securing the Application, covers restricting access to your data by choosing an appropriate authentication approach. You'll then be able to protect data leakage with transport layer security.
- Inform the reader of the things that they need to know before they start, and spell out what knowledge you are assuming
- Any additional installation instructions and information they need for getting set up
You can download the example code files for this book from your account at www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files emailed directly to you.
You can download the code files by following these steps:
- Log in or register at www.packtpub.com.
- Select the
SUPPORTtab. - Click on
Code Downloads & Errata. - Enter the name of the book in the
Searchbox and follow the onscreen instructions.
Once the file is downloaded, please make sure that you unzip or extract the folder using the latest version of:
- WinRAR/7-Zip for Windows
- Zipeg/iZip/UnRarX for Mac
- 7-Zip/PeaZip for Linux
The code bundle for the book is also hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/RESTful-Web-API-Design-with-Node.js-10-Third-Edition. In case there's an update to the code, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.
We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text, database tale names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows:
"This tells npm that our package depends on the URL and express modules."
A block of code is set as follows:
router.get('/v1/item/:itemId', function(request, response, next) {
console.log(request.url + ' : querying for ' + request.params.itemId);
catalogV1.findItemById(request.params.itemId, response);
});
router.get('/v1/:categoryId', function(request, response, next) {
console.log(request.url + ' : querying for ' + request.params.categoryId);
catalogV1.findItemsByCategory(request.params.categoryId, response);
});When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:
router.get('/v1/:categoryId', function(request, response, next) {
console.log(request.url + ' : querying for ' + request.params.categoryId);
catalogV1.findItemsByCategory(request.params.categoryId, response);
});Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
$ npm install -g expressBold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example:
Feedback from our readers is always welcome.
General feedback: Email [email protected] and mention the book title in the subject of your message. If you have questions about any aspect of this book, please email us at [email protected].
Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/submit-errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form link, and entering the details.
Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the Internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the material.
If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.
Please leave a review. Once you have read and used this book, why not leave a review on the site that you purchased it from? Potential readers can then see and use your unbiased opinion to make purchase decisions, we at Packt can understand what you think about our products, and our authors can see your feedback on their book. Thank you!
For more information about Packt, please visit packtpub.com.