Sprint Challenge Instructions

Read these instructions carefully. Understand exactly what is expected before starting this Sprint Challenge.

This challenge allows you to practice the concepts and techniques learned over the past sprint and apply them in a concrete project. This sprint explored how to build web services based on the REST (REpresentational State Transfer) architectural style. During this sprint, you studied Node.js and Express, server side routing, how to write Express middleware and how to deploy an API to Heroku.

In your challenge this week, you will demonstrate your mastery of these skills by designing and creating a web API to manage the following resources: Projects and Actions.

This is an individual assessment. All work must be your own. All projects will be submitted to Codegrade for automated review. You will also be given feedback by code reviewers the Monday after challenge submissions. For more information on the review process click here.

You are not allowed to collaborate during the sprint challenge. However, you are encouraged to follow the twenty-minute rule and seek support by dropping a 👋 in your help channel when needed.

Introduction

In meeting the minimum viable product (MVP) specifications listed below, your project should provide an API that has Create, Read, Update and Delete (CRUD) functionality for both projects and actions.

Instructions

Task 1: Project Set Up

Fork and clone this repository. If you are repeating this Course, delete your old fork from Github and re-fork and re-clone.
Create a new branch: git checkout -b <firstName-lastName>.
Implement the project on your newly created branch, committing changes regularly.
Push commits: git push origin <firstName-lastName>.
RUN npm install to install your dependencies.

Task 2: CodeGrade Setup

Follow instructions to set up Codegrade's Webhook and Deploy Key, making sure your deployment is set to your <firstName-lastName> branch.
Push your first commit: git commit --allow-empty -m "first commit" && git push.
Check to see that Codegrade has accepted your git submission.

Task 3: Project Requirements (MVP)

Your finished project must include all of the following requirements:

NPM Scripts

A "test" script already exists you can use to run tests against your code.

Write an npm script named "start" that uses node to run the API server.
Write an npm script named "server" that uses nodemonto run the API server.
Install nodemon as a development dependency only that would not be used in production.

Build an API

Inside api/actions/actions-router.js build endpoints for performing CRUD operations on actions:
- [GET] /api/actions returns an array of actions (or an empty array) as the body of the response.
- [GET] /api/actions/:id returns an action with the given id as the body of the response.
- [POST] /api/actions returns the newly created action as the body of the response.
- [PUT] /api/actions/:id returns the updated action as the body of the response.
- [DELETE] /api/actions/:id returns no response body.
Inside api/projects/projects-router.js build endpoints for performing CRUD operations on projects:
- [GET] /api/projects returns an array of projects (or an empty array) as the body of the response.
- [GET] /api/projects/:id returns a project with the given id as the body of the response.
- [POST] /api/projects returns the newly created project as the body of the response.
- [PUT] /api/projects/:id returns the updated project as the body of the response.
- [DELETE] /api/projects/:id returns no response body.
Inside api/projects/projects-router.js add an endpoint for retrieving the list of actions for a project:
- [GET] /api/projects/:id/actions sends an array of actions (or an empty array) as the body of the response.
Both Projects and Actions have an optional completed property (see Database Schemas below). In both cases it's a boolean stored in the database as a 1 or a 0. Make sure to transform the raw completed values obtained from the db to true or false, before sending them back to the client.
When adding an action, make sure the project_id provided belongs to an existing project.
If you try to add an action with an id of 3 and there is no project with that id the database will return an error.
Use an HTTP client like HTTPie, Postman or Insomnia to test the API's endpoints.
Use Express Routers to organize your endpoints.
The use of middlewares to avoid repetitive code is highly recommended.
Your server.js file lives inside the api folder.
Your index.js file lives at the root of the project.

Database Schemas

The description of the structure and extra information about each resource stored in the included database (./data/lambda.db3) is listed below.

Projects

Field	Data Type	Metadata
id	number	no need to provide it when creating projects, the database will generate it
name	string	required
description	string	required
completed	boolean	used to indicate if the project has been completed, not required

Actions

Field	Data Type	Metadata
id	number	no need to provide it when creating posts, the database will automatically generate it
project_id	number	required, must be the id of an existing project
description	string	up to 128 characters long, required
notes	string	no size limit, required. Used to record additional notes or requirements to complete the action
completed	boolean	used to indicate if the action has been completed, not required

Database Persistence Helpers

The project includes models you can use to manage the persistence of project and action data. These files are api/projects/projects-model.js and api/actions/actions-model.js. Both files publish the following api, which you can use to store, modify and retrieve each resource:

All these helper methods return a promise. Remember to use .then().catch() or async/await.

get(): resolves to an array of all the resources contained in the database. If you pass an id to this method it will return the resource with that id if one is found.
insert(): calling insert passing it a resource object will add it to the database and return the newly created resource.
update(): accepts two arguments, the first is the id of the resource to update, and the second is an object with the changes to apply. It returns the updated resource. If a resource with the provided id is not found, the method returns null.
remove(): the remove method accepts an id as its first parameter and, upon successfully deleting the resource from the database, returns the number of records deleted.

The projects-model.js includes an extra method called getProjectActions() that takes a project id as its only argument and returns a list of all the actions for the project.

We have provided test data for all the resources.

Notes:

You are welcome to create additional files for middlewares, but do not move or rename existing files or folders.
Do not make changes to your package.json except to add additional dependencies and scripts.
In your solution, it is essential that you follow best practices and produce clean and professional results.
Schedule time to review, refine, and assess your work and perform basic professional polishing including spell-checking and grammar-checking on your work.
It is better to submit a challenge that meets MVP than one that attempts too much and does not.

Task 4: Stretch Goals

After finishing your required elements, you can push your work further. These goals may or may not be things you have learned in this module but they build on the material you just studied. Time allowing, stretch your limits and see if you can deliver on the following optional goals:

IMPORTANT: Work on stretch goals on a different branch. You can branch off <firstName-lastName> by executing git checkout -b stretch.

Deploy the API to Heroku.
Configure the API to support environment variables.
Use middleware for validation of incoming data.

Submission format

Submit via Codegrade by pushing commits to your <firstName-lastName> branch on Github.
Create a pull-request to merge <firstName-lastName> branch into main.
Check Codegrade for automated feedback.
Check Codegrade on Monday following the Sprint Challenge for reviewer feedback.
New commits will be evaluated by Codegrade if pushed before the sprint challenge deadline.

Interview Questions

Be prepared to demonstrate your understanding of this week's concepts by answering questions on the following topics. You might prepare by writing down your own answers before hand.

The core features of Node.js and Express and why they are useful.
Understand and explain the use of Middleware.
The basic principles of the REST architectural style.
Understand and explain the use of Express Routers.
Describe tooling used to manually test the correctness of an API.

MichelleCCodes/web-sprint-challenge-build-a-web-api