It is also known as the heart of a Node project.
#Nodejs rest api install#
It then writes a package.json containing this metadata.Ī package.json file includes the packages and applications it depends on, and defines the functional attributes of a project that npm uses to run the scripts, install the dependencies, and define the entry point to the project. The npm init command allows us to set up a new or existing npm package that will ask a few questions to set up some essential metadata for the project, such as name, description, versions, gateway, scripts, dependencies, etc. Once Node is installed, initialize the project by using the “ npm init” command. Since we are going to build an API with Node.js and Express, you need to have Node.js installed. Setting up the environment of a project is an essential part of the process. Some basic knowledge on web client-server relationshipīuilding a RESTful API with Node.js and Express.(You of course can define your data as you wish.) Prerequisiteīefore getting in too deep, I assume that you already have the following: From the process API, we will retrieve a list of processes, get a process by its ID, and also get processes by using filter queries.
#Nodejs rest api how to#
In this article, I am going to share how I built my first REST API with Node.js and Express, and also explain how to document it with SwaggerUI.Īs Bonitasoft offers a process automation platform to automate the business processes, I will show how I built a process API that we normally use at work. Building an API is a challenging job that makes me feel that I am moving out of my comfort zone. As a front-end developer with experience in HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, and its frameworks, I found Node.js and Express more convenient to me at this stage, in terms of learning and grasping the basics of it quickly. I decided to learn on my own how to build a RESTful API and start learning things to enhance my area of expertise.Īll the APIs on the Bonita platform are developed in JAVA which is a backend programming language, so I have chosen Node.js and Express to build my first API.
And often when other developers were talking about the implementation of new features, and new APIs, I was unable to contribute. As the lone front-end developer in the team, I always depended on my teammates to build the APIs, the backend of the apps I was working on.
This team is a part of the R&D department, where most of the developers in the team are specialized in back-end, and some are full-stack developers. A frontend guy built a backend REST API with Node.js & Express IntroductionĪfter gaining a few years of experience in front-end development, I am now a front-end developer in the Bonita Runtime team at Bonitasoft.