Creating a Basic REST Service Using Node.js and Express

In this comprehensive tutorial, we will guide you through the process of building a RESTful service using Node.js and the Express framework. While we assume you already have Node.js installed, we will walk you through the installation of Express and the setup of your project. Additionally, we’ll demonstrate how to establish a simple REST service and provide instructions on how to test it. Subsequent sections will delve into topics such as integrating a web page interface for user interaction, adding authentication, and implementing MongoDB for data persistence.

If you’re new to Node.js, we recommend visiting the official website for detailed information. Express, on the other hand, is a powerful web application framework specifically designed for Node.js; you can find more details on the Express framework here. You can access the complete source code for this tutorial on GitHub.

Setting Up Your Environment

To begin, ensure that you have Express installed. If it’s not already installed, you can do so with the following command:

Installing Express Globally

Next, create a dedicated directory for your project. Navigate to your project directory and execute the following command to generate the initial project structure:

Generating Project Shell

The “express” command will create a project shell using the Jade template engine. Before running the project, you must install its dependencies. Use the following command to achieve this:

Installing Dependencies

With the dependencies installed, you can now run your application. Access it through your web browser at https://localhost:3000. However, at this point, your project is essentially an empty shell. In the upcoming sections, we’ll write the code for our service. To launch your project in its current state, execute the following command:

Running Your Project

Developing the REST Service

In our project directory, we will create two new files alongside the existing app.js: userManager.js and userProvider-array.js. The userManager.js file will serve as our service, while userProvider-array.js will function as our data layer, supplying a list of users to the service. It’s important to note that the current userProvider relies on a JavaScript array and does not offer data persistence. In future tutorials, we will address this limitation by integrating MongoDB.

Let’s begin by examining the userProvider-array.js file: