Using MongoDB with Express.js + TypeScript in REST API

MongoDB is a popular NoSQL database that is often used in conjunction with Node.js and Express.js to build scalable and efficient applications. With the increasing popularity of TypeScript, many developers are now using TypeScript in their Express.js applications for better type safety and code maintainability. In this article, we will explore how to use MongoDB with Express.js and TypeScript to build a RESTful API.

Setting up the project

First, make sure you have Node.js and npm installed on your system. You can install them from the official Node.js website if you haven’t already. Once you have Node.js and npm installed, you can create a new directory for your project and run the following commands to initialize a new npm project and install the required dependencies:

    
      npm init -y
      npm install express mongoose typescript @types/node @types/express @types/mongoose
    
  

Creating a REST API with Express.js and TypeScript

Now that we have our project set up, we can start creating a simple REST API using Express.js and TypeScript. Create a new file called server.ts and add the following code to it:

      
        import express, { Request, Response } from 'express';
        import mongoose from 'mongoose';
        
        const app = express();
        const port = 3000;
        
        app.get('/', (req: Request, res: Response) => {
          res.send('Hello World!');
        });
        
        app.listen(port, () => {
          console.log(`Server is running on port ${port}`);
        });
      
    

Connecting to MongoDB

To connect to MongoDB, we need to install the mongoose package and configure the connection in our server.ts file. Add the following code to connect to the MongoDB database:

      
        mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost:27017/myapp', {
          useNewUrlParser: true,
          useUnifiedTopology: true
        });
        
        const db = mongoose.connection;
        db.on('error', console.error.bind(console, 'connection error:'));
        db.once('open', () => {
          console.log('Connected to MongoDB');
        });
      
    

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned how to use MongoDB with Express.js and TypeScript to build a RESTful API. We have set up our project, created a simple Express.js server, and connected to a MongoDB database. This is just the beginning, and there are many more things you can do with MongoDB and Express.js in a TypeScript project. Happy coding!