Building RESTful APIs with Node.js and Express Mini

Topics

Building a RESTful API.
Performing CRUD operations.
Writing API endpoints.

Assignment

Use Node.js and Express to build an API that performs CRUD operations on users.

Download Project Files and Install Dependencies

Fork and Clone this repository.
CD into the folder where you cloned the repository.
Type yarn or npm install to download all dependencies listed inside package.json.

Database access

Database access will be done using the db.js file included inside the data folder. This file publishes the following methods:

find(): calling find returns a promise that resolves to an array of all the users contained in the database.
findById(): this method expects an id as it's only parameter and returns the user corresponding to the id provided or an empty array if no user with that id is found.
insert(): calling insert passing it a user object will add it to the database and return an object with the id of the inserted user. The object looks like this: { id: 123 }.
update(): accepts two arguments, the first is the id of the user to update and the second is an object with the changes to apply. It returns the count of updated records. If the count is 1 it means the record was updated correctly.
remove(): the remove method accepts an id as it's first parameter and upon successfully deleting the user from the database it returns the number of records deleted.

Now that we have a way to add, update, remove and retrieve data from the provided database, it is time to work on the API.

Start the API and Implement Requirements

To start the server, type yarn start or npm start from the root folder (where the package.json file is). The server is configured to restart automatically as you make changes.
Add the code necessary to implement the API requirements.
Test the API using Postman as you work through the exercises.

User Schema

Users in the database conform to the following object structure:

{
  name: "Jane Doe", // String, required
  bio: "Not Tarzan's Wife, another Jane",  // String
  created_at: Mon Aug 14 2017 12:50:16 GMT-0700 (PDT) // Date, defaults to current date
  updated_at: Mon Aug 14 2017 12:50:16 GMT-0700 (PDT) // Date, defaults to current date
}

Write endpoints to perform the following queries.

Inside index.js add the code necessary to implement the following endpoints:

Method	URL	Description
POST	/api/users	Creates a user using the information sent inside the `request body`.
GET	/api/users	Returns an array of all the user objects contained in the database.
GET	/api/users/:id	Returns the user object with the specified `id`.
DELETE	/api/users/:id	Removes the user with the specified `id` and returns the deleted user.
PUT	/api/users/:id	Updates the user with the specified `id` using data from the `request body`. Returns the modified document, NOT the original.

Endpoint Specifications

When the client makes a POST request to /api/users:

If the request body is missing the name or bio property:
- cancel the request.
- respond with HTTP status code 400 (Bad Request).
- return the following JSON response: { errorMessage: "Please provide name and bio for the user." }.
If the information about the user is valid:
- save the new user the the database.
- return HTTP status code 201 (Created).
- return the newly created user document.
If there's an error while saving the user:
- cancel the request.
- respond with HTTP status code 500 (Server Error).
- return the following JSON object: { error: "There was an error while saving the user to the database" }.

When the client makes a GET request to /api/users:

If there's an error in retrieving the users from the database:
- cancel the request.
- respond with HTTP status code 500.
- return the following JSON object: { error: "The users information could not be retrieved." }.

When the client makes a GET request to /api/users/:id:

If the user with the specified id is not found:
- return HTTP status code 404 (Not Found).
- return the following JSON object: { message: "The user with the specified ID does not exist." }.
If there's an error in retrieving the user from the database:
- cancel the request.
- respond with HTTP status code 500.
- return the following JSON object: { error: "The user information could not be retrieved." }.

When the client makes a DELETE request to /api/users/:id:

If the user with the specified id is not found:
- return HTTP status code 404 (Not Found).
- return the following JSON object: { message: "The user with the specified ID does not exist." }.
If there's an error in removing the user from the database:
- cancel the request.
- respond with HTTP status code 500.
- return the following JSON object: { error: "The user could not be removed" }.

When the client makes a PUT request to /api/users/:id:

If the user with the specified id is not found:
- return HTTP status code 404 (Not Found).
- return the following JSON object: { message: "The user with the specified ID does not exist." }.
If the request body is missing the name or bio property:
- cancel the request.
- respond with HTTP status code 400 (Bad Request).
- return the following JSON response: { errorMessage: "Please provide name and bio for the user." }.
If there's an error when updating the user:
- cancel the request.
- respond with HTTP status code 500.
- return the following JSON object: { error: "The user information could not be modified." }.
If the user is found and the new information is valid:
- update the user document in the database using the new information sent in the reques body.
- return HTTP status code 200 (OK).
- return the newly updated user document.

Stretch Problems

Use create-react-app to create an application inside the root folder, name it client.
From the React application connect to the /api/users endpoint in the API and show the list of users.
Style the list of users however you see fit.

leeformento/node-express-mini