Book Image

RESTful Web API Design with Node.js 10 - Third Edition

By : Valentin Bojinov
Book Image

RESTful Web API Design with Node.js 10 - Third Edition

By: Valentin Bojinov

Overview of this book

When building RESTful services, it is really important to choose the right framework. Node.js, with its asynchronous, event-driven architecture, is exactly the right choice for building RESTful APIs. This third edition of RESTful Web API Design with Node.js 10 will teach you to create scalable and rich RESTful applications based on the Node.js platform. You will be introduced to the latest NPM package handler and understand how to use it to customize your RESTful development process. You will begin by understanding the key principle that makes an HTTP application a RESTful-enabled application. After writing a simple HTTP request handler, you will create and test Node.js modules using automated tests and mock objects; explore using the NoSQL database, MongoDB, to store data; and get to grips with using self-descriptive URLs. You’ll learn to set accurate HTTP status codes along with understanding how to keep your applications backward-compatible. Also, while implementing a full-fledged RESTful service, you will use Swagger to document the API and implement automation tests for a REST-enabled endpoint with Mocha. Lastly, you will explore some authentication techniques to secure your application.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Packt Upsell
Contributors
Preface
Index

Implementing routes


In Node.js terms, a route is a binding between a URI and function. The Express framework provides built-in support for routing. An express object instance contains functions named after each HTTP verb: get, post, put, and delete. They have the following syntax: function(uri, handler);. They are used to bind a handler function to a specific HTTP action executed over a URI. The handler function usually takes two arguments: request and response. Let's see it with a simple Hello route application:

var express = require('express'); 
var app = express(); 
 
app.get('/hello', function(request, response){ 
  response.send('Hello route'); 
}); 
 
app.listen(3000); 

Running this sample at localhost and accessing http://localhost:3000/hello will result in calling your handler function and it will respond saying Hello route, but routing can give you much more. It allows you to define a URI with parameters; for example, let's use /hello/:name as a routing string. It tells the framework...