Creating a CRUD Rest API with Node and Express Js
Node.js and Express.js are two popular technologies for building web applications and APIs. In this article, we will explore how to create a CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) Rest API using these technologies.
What is a Rest API?
REST stands for Representational State Transfer, and it is an architectural style for building web services. A Rest API allows different systems to communicate with each other over the internet by using standard HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE.
Setting up the Project
First, we need to install Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) if you haven’t already. Then, create a new directory for your project and navigate to it using the command line. Run the following command to create a new package.json file:
npm init -y
Installing Express.js
Next, we need to install Express.js, which is a fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework for Node.js. Run the following command to install Express:
npm install express
Creating the Rest API
Now that we have set up our project and installed Express.js, we can start building our Rest API. Create a new file called server.js and add the following code:
const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const port = 3000;
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.send('Hello World!');
});
app.listen(port, () => {
console.log(`Server is running on port ${port}`);
});
Testing the API
To test our API, run the following command in the command line:
node server.js
Then, open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000. You should see the message “Hello World!” displayed on the screen.
Conclusion
In this article, we have learned how to create a CRUD Rest API using Node.js and Express.js. This is just the beginning, and there is so much more you can do with these technologies. I encourage you to continue exploring and building upon what you have learned here.
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