Express JS Tutorials and Examples

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To Get Started:

• Clone the project repository to your computer: git clone <projectURL>
• cd into the project directory
• Run npm install to install the project dependices
• Run node <script>.js to start a script. For example: node simple-api-example_1.js
  • Or run npm run ex1

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Tutorial

To get the most out of this repo, please read the following tutorial: https://fofocode.dev/article/?post=7

API Documentation for the Tutorial

Example 1 (GET Requests): simple-api-example_1.js

To Run the App:

node simple-api-example_1.js OR npm run ex1

Endpoint URLs:

GET: http://localhost:3000

To Test the Endpoint from a Command Line or Terminal:

Powershell (Windows)

$response = Invoke-RestMethod 'http://localhost:3000' -Method 'GET' -Headers $headers
$response | ConvertTo-Json

Terminal / CURL (CURL, macOS and Linux)

curl --location --request GET 'http://localhost:3000'

Expected Output From HTTP Request:

Look Out World! Here We Come!

Example 2 (POST Requests): simple-api-example_2.js

To Run the App:

node simple-api-example_2.js OR npm run ex2

Endpoint URLs:

POST: http://localhost:3000/submit-data

To Test a POST to the Endpoint from a Command Line or Terminal:

Powershell (Windows)

JSON

$headers = New-Object "System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[[String],[String]]"
$headers.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

$body = "{`"someKey`":`"Some Data`"}"

$response = Invoke-RestMethod 'http://localhost:3000/submit-data' -Method 'POST' -Headers $headers -Body $body
$response | ConvertTo-Json

URL FORM ENCODED

$headers = New-Object "System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[[String],[String]]"
$headers.Add("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")

$body = "someKey=Some%20Data"

$response = Invoke-RestMethod 'http://localhost:3000/submit-data' -Method 'POST' -Headers $headers -Body $body
$response | ConvertTo-Json

Terminal / CURL (CURL, macOS and Linux)

JSON

curl --location --request POST 'http://localhost:3000/submit-data' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "someKey": "Some Data"
}'

URL FORM ENCODED

curl --location --request POST 'http://localhost:3000/submit-data' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \
--data-urlencode 'someKey=Some Data'

Expected Output From HTTP Request:

You sent the following data:
{"someKey":"Some Data"}

Example 3 (PUT/DELETE Requests): simple-api-example_3.js

To run the app:

node simple-api-example_3.js OR npm run ex3

Endpoint URLs:

GET: http://localhost:3000/get-data POST: http://localhost:3000/submit-data PUT: http://localhost:3000/update-data DELETE: http://localhost:3000/delete-data

To Test a PUT to the Endpoint from a Command Line or Terminal:

Powershell (Windows)

$headers = New-Object "System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[[String],[String]]"
$headers.Add("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")

$body = "movieKey=2&newMovieTitle=My%20New%20Movie!"

$response = Invoke-RestMethod 'http://localhost:3000/update-data' -Method 'PUT' -Headers $headers -Body $body
$response | ConvertTo-Json

Terminal / CURL (CURL, macOS and Linux)

curl --location --request PUT 'http://localhost:3000/update-data' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \
--data-urlencode 'movieKey=2' \
--data-urlencode 'newMovieTitle=My New Movie!'

Expected Output From HTTP Request:

{
    "status": "Updated Database Successfully",
    "databaseData": [
        ...
        ...
        "My New Movie!",
        ...
    ]
}

To Test a DELETE to the Endpoint from a Command Line or Terminal:

Powershell (Windows)

$headers = New-Object "System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[[String],[String]]"
$headers.Add("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")

$body = "movieKey=0"

$response = Invoke-RestMethod 'http://localhost:3000/delete-data' -Method 'DELETE' -Headers $headers -Body $body
$response | ConvertTo-Json

Terminal / CURL (CURL, macOS and Linux)

curl --location --request DELETE 'http://localhost:3000/delete-data' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \
--data-urlencode 'movieKey=0'

Expected Output From HTTP Request:

{
    "status": "Deleted ... from Database Successfully",
    "databaseData": [
        ...
    ]
}