REST API

REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style for designing networked applications. It relies on a stateless, client-server communication model and uses standard HTTP methods to perform operations on resources.

RESTful routes are essentially the endpoints defined in a REST API, allowing clients to interact with server resources. Each route typically combines a URL with an HTTP verb (such as GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to specify the action to be performed. These routes correspond to CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations, which are fundamental to interacting with resources in a RESTful manner.

RESTful routes example

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME        PATH             VERB        PURPOSE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Index      /cars             GET        Display all cars
New        /cars/new         GET        Form to create a new car
Create     /cars             POST       Creates a new car on the server
Show       /cars/{id}        GET        Details for one specific car
Edit       /cars/{id}/edit   GET        Form to edit one specific car
Update     /cars/{id}        PATCH      Updates specific car on the server
Destroy    /cars/{id}        DELETE     Deletes specific car on the server
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back-end API implementation example

index.js

const express = require("express");
const path = require("path");
const { v4: uuid } = require("uuid");
const methodOverride = require("method-override");
const app = express();
const port = 3000;
 
app.use(methodOverride("_method"));
 
// serving static assets
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, "/public")));
 
// middleware for parsing data
app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
app.use(express.json());
 
// set up EJS engine
app.set("view engine", "ejs");
app.set("views", path.join(__dirname, "/views"));
 
// initializig mocked cars database
let car_db = [
    {
        id: uuid(),
        model: "Kicks",
        year: 2024,
        brand: "Nissan",
    },
    {
        id: uuid(),
        model: "Opala",
        year: 1979,
        brand: "Chevrolet",
    },
    {
        id: uuid(),
        model: "Fusca",
        year: 1993,
        brand: "Volkswagen",
    },
    {
        id: uuid(),
        model: "Marea",
        year: 2002,
        brand: "Fiat",
    },
    {
        id: uuid(),
        model: "Del Rey",
        year: 1986,
        brand: "Ford",
    },
];
 
// set up REST API (using cars as resource)
// 1. Index route
app.get("/cars", (req, res) => {
    res.render("cars/index", { cars: car_db });
});
 
// 2. New route
app.get("/cars/new", (req, res) => {
    res.render("cars/new");
});
 
// 3. Create route
app.post("/cars", (req, res) => {
    const { model, year, brand } = req.body;
    car_db.push({ model, year, brand, id: uuid() });
    res.redirect("/cars");
});
 
// 4. Show route
app.get("/cars/:id", (req, res) => {
    const { id } = req.params;
    const car = car_db.find(c => c.id === id);
    res.render("cars/show", { car });
});
 
// 5. Edit route
app.get("/cars/:id/edit", (req, res) => {
    const { id } = req.params;
    const car = car_db.find(c => c.id === id);
    res.render("cars/edit", { car });
});
 
// 6. Update route
app.patch("/cars/:id", (req, res) => {
    const { id } = req.params;
    const car = car_db.find(c => c.id === id);
    const newModel = req.body.model;
    const newBrand = req.body.brand;
    const newYear = req.body.year;
    car.model = newModel;
    car.brand = newBrand;
    car.year = newYear;
    res.redirect("/cars");
});
 
// 7. Destroy route
app.delete("/cars/:id", (req, res) => {
    const { id } = req.params;
    car_db = car_db.filter(c => c.id !== id);
    res.redirect("/cars");
});
 
// start the server
app.listen(port, () => {
    console.log(`Server is running on http://localhost:${port}`)
});