Express.js Blueprints

Learn to use Express.js pragmatically by creating five fun and robust real-world APIs, with a bonus chapter on Koa.js

About This Book

• Develop scalable APIs using the Express.js framework for Node.js
• Be more productive by learning about Express.js intricacies and its supporting libraries
• Get to grips with coding best practices and Test-Driven Development to create real-world applications using Express.js

Who This Book Is For

This book is for beginners to Node.js and also for those who are technically advanced. By the end of this book, every competent developer will have achieved expertise in building web applications with Express.js.

What You Will Learn

• Set up the Express.js framework with a basic scaffold
• Model data using Mongoose and build a CRUD API to store the data in a database
• Use promises to avoid callback hell in Node.js
• Address scalability concerns and deal with race conditions
• Apply test-driven development (TDD) by using Mocha to write tests for your apps
• Get familiar with service-oriented architecture (SOA)
• Integrate Socket.IO and dynamically push updates to the client
• Write Node.js APIs by leveraging generator functions using Koa.js

In Detail

APIs are at the core of every serious web application. Express.js is the most popular framework for building on top of Node.js, an exciting tool that is easy to use and allows you to build APIs and develop your backend in JavaScript. Express.js Blueprints consists of many well-crafted tutorials that will teach you how to build robust APIs using Express.js.

The book covers various different types of applications, each with a diverse set of challenges. You will start with the basics such as hosting static content and user authentication and work your way up to creating real-time, multiplayer online games using a combination of HTTP and Socket.IO. Next, you’ll learn the principles of SOA in Node.js and see them used to build a pairing as a service. If that’s not enough, we’ll build a CRUD backend to post links and upvote with Koa.js!

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Building a Basic Express Site
Chapter 2: A Robust Movie API
Chapter 3: Multiplayer Game API – Connect 4
Chapter 4: MMO Word Game
Chapter 5: Coffee with Strangers
Chapter 6: Hacker News API on Koa.js
Appendix: Connect 4 – Game Logic