This repository provides a basic boilerplate for creating a REST API using Express and MongoDB. The repository includes the necessary dependencies and a pre-defined folder structure to get you up and running smoothly.
- Basic Requirements
- Getting Started
- Database
- Application Structure
- API Overview
- Authentication and Authorization
- Error Handling
To run this API, you need to have the following software installed on your machine:
To install and run this repository, follow these steps:
-
Clone the repository to your local machine using the following command:
git clone https://github.com/your-username/Genics-API.git
-
Change into the project directory:
cd Genics-API
-
Install the dependencies by running the following command:
npm install
-
Create a
.env
file in the root directory of the project and specify the following environment variables:PORT=5000 MONGO_DB=<your-mongodb-uri>
Replace
<your-mongodb-uri>
with the connection URI for your MongoDB database. -
Start the application by running the following command:
npm start
The API will now be running at
http://localhost:5000
.
This API uses MongoDB as its database. You can either set up a local MongoDB installation or use an online database service such as MongoDB Atlas. To connect to your database, provide the MongoDB connection URI in the .env
file as mentioned in the Getting Started section.
The folder structure of this repository follows a recommended best practice for organizing Express applications:
├── controllers/ # Contains route handlers (controllers)
├── models/ # Defines the data models (Mongoose schemas)
├── routes/ # Defines the API routes
├── index.js # Entry point of the application
├── .env # Environment variables (ignored by version control)
├── package.json # Project dependencies and scripts
└── README.md # Project documentation
Some additional directories may be present depending on the requirements of the project:
- The
controllers
directory contains route handlers responsible for handling requests and returning responses. - The
models
directory defines the data models using Mongoose schemas, which map to MongoDB collections. - The
routes
directory defines the API routes and associates them with the appropriate controller methods. - The
services
directory contains business logic and interactions with the database. - The
middlewares
directory holds custom middleware functions used in the application. - The
utils
directory includes utility functions that can be used throughout the project. - The
tests
directory contains unit tests. - The
index.js
file is the entry point of the application where Express is initialized. - The
config.js
file stores configuration variables. - The
.env
file should be created and populated with environment-specific variables as mentioned in the Getting Started section. - The
package.json
file lists the project dependencies
The API provides endpoints for managing users and products in a simple ecommerce application. Here is a brief overview of the available endpoints:
-
Users
GET /users
: Retrieve a list of all users.POST /users
: Create a new user.
-
Products
GET /products
: Retrieve a list of all products.POST /products
: Create a new product.PUT /products/:id
: Update an existing product by ID.DELETE /products/:id
: Delete a product by ID.
For detailed information about the request and response format for each endpoint, please refer to the individual route files in the routes
directory.
This API does not currently implement authentication or authorization mechanisms. It is designed for demonstrate basic REST API concepts. In a production environment, it is important to implement proper authentication and authorization mechanisms to secure your API endpoints.
The API includes basic error handling for common scenarios. Errors are returned in a consistent JSON format with appropriate HTTP status codes. However, this error handling is not exhaustive, and additional error cases can be implemented as needed for your specific application requirements.