A Beginners Guide to Restful Apis in Node. Js

A REST (Representational State Transfer) API—sometimes referred to as a RESTful AP—is an API that uses HTTP requests to access and use resources.

These resources are often represented in JSON format though on some occasions XML, text, and HTML format are used. REST APIs have become a standard way for applications to exchange data over a network through HTTP methods like GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE. They facilitate creating, reading, updating, and deleting resources commonly referred to as CRUD operations.

This guide explores how you can use Node.JS to create a simple CRUD Restful API.

What You Need to Follow Along

Make sure you have Node.js installed on your local machine. Run node -v to check whether Node.JS is installed. This command should return the version number.

Related: How to Install Node.js on Windows

You should also have a working instance of your favorite text editor (e.g. VS Code).

Project Setup

Create a folder for your application and navigate to it. On the terminal and in the directory you just created, initialize package.json by running npm init.

$ npm init -y 

The package.json will help you install and manage npm packages. The -y flag creates the package.json file using the default options without you having to set up the individual details. The output on your terminal should look like this. Note that the name will be different depending on what you named your folder.