- Practice setting up MongoDB collection schemas and models using JS classes
- Understanding database implementation without ODM
In the previous module, we've got introduced to the main types of databases, SQL and NoSQL, and have seen how MySQL uses tables to store data and MongoDB uses collections. Since MongoDB gives you a lot of flexibility, there are no rules or rather flexible rules, but it's still very important to design a well-strucured schema for effeciency, consistency and maintainability.
In thi assignment, we will build the schema for a blog website which has blog posts and authors.
In this assignment, we will not be using an ODM, instead we will use the MongoDB driver for Node.js. You will find the following starter code in the project folder:
- Basic Express application setup in
index.js - Database connection setup in
db/connection.js - Some test functions in
db/test-functions.js
All the necessary packages are already listed in package.json. So you know the drill. npm install and npm start to get started.
Note: Make sure MongoDB is running on your local machine.
Add the code in the models folder to create models for BlogPost and Author. Your code must include:
- the base structure of each document in the form of a JavaScript class with a constructor to initialise instances of the model
- class method in order to
savea new instance of the model on the database
Our first collection is the collection for blog posts. In models/blog-post.js, design the schema and model for a document representing a blog post. It should include:
- Title as a string
- Content as a string
- Array of tags where each tag is a string
- Reference to author document in the authors collection, this will be an ObjectId
Our second collection is the collection for authors. In models/author.js, design the schema and model for an author document. It should include:
- Name as string
- Age as number
- Gender as string
- Nationality as string
- Array for areas of expertise where each is a string
Hint: Look at the test files in order to visualize how the schema and model should look like. And ofcourse Google and documentation!
Run npm test to test your code. If it shows all tests have passed then you're good to go.
You can also manually test your models by creating a few API endpoints on the index.js file for adding and finding authors and blogposts. Then call these endpoints to test your models. You can also verify the database operations by checking the collections using any MongoDB GUI tool or Mongo shell.
Once you're ready to submit the assignment, follow these steps on your terminal:
- Stage your changes to be committed:
git add . - Commit your final changes:
git commit -m "solve assignment" - Push your commit to the main branch of your assignment repo:
git push origin main
After your changes are pushed, return to this assignment on Canvas for the final step of submission.