𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗔 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗣𝗜 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗼𝗱𝗲.𝗷𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗔 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗣𝗜 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗼𝗱𝗲.𝗷𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀

Mobile apps and websites use APIs to get data. You can build your own REST API from scratch using Node.js and Express.

This tutorial teaches you CRUD operations. CRUD stands for Create, Read, Update, and Delete. These are the core parts of any real app.

You only need basic JavaScript to start.

What you will build:

• A way to see all books
• A way to find one book by ID
• A way to add new books
• A way to update book details
• A way to delete books

Setup requirements:

• Node.js installed
• A code editor like VS Code
• A terminal
• Postman or Thunder Client to test your work

Quick setup steps:

1. Create a folder: mkdir books-api
2. Enter the folder: cd books-api
3. Initialize project: npm init -y
4. Install Express: npm install express

Create an index.js file. Use express.json() to let your API read JSON data. We will use a simple array to store our data instead of a database for this lesson.

The API routes:

• GET /books: Returns the full list
• GET /books/:id: Returns one specific book
• POST /books: Adds a new book to your list
• PUT /books/:id: Changes information for an existing book
• DELETE /books/:id: Removes a book from the list

Once you finish this, your next steps are:

• Connect a real database like MongoDB or PostgreSQL
• Add security with JWT tokens
• Deploy your API to the internet using Railway or Render

Every major app like Instagram or Twitter uses these same principles. Start with these basics to understand how the web works.

Source: https://dev.to/onlyeugene/how-to-build-a-rest-api-with-nodejs-and-express-from-scratch-3hfa