CRUD operation using Node.js and Express.js

In this medium article, I will show you how to perform basic CRUD operations with the help of Node.js and Express.js. You will also get an idea of project setup in Node.

Project Setup

Step-1

• To create a new project run the below command where you made your project directory.
• It is used to set up a new or existing npm package.

npm init

Step-2

• Now install below two packages.

npm install express body-parser

• Express: Express.js is a free and open-source web application framework for Node.js. It is used for designing and building web applications quickly and easily.
• Body Parser: Express body-parser is an npm library that processes data sent through an HTTP request body.

Step-3

npm install -D nodemon

• Nodemon: Nodemon is a tool that helps develop Node.js based applications by automatically restarting the node application when file changes in the directory are detected.
• -D is shorthand for devDependencies. Dev dependencies are modules which are only required during development whereas dependencies are needed at runtime.

Step-4

• In the package.json file, write the below command inside the scripts object. So, when you run the server using npm start it will run the index.js file using nodemon.

"scripts": {
    "start": "nodemon index.js"
}

Step-5

• Run the server 😀

npm start

The CRUD

Now, we will learn how to perform CRUD operations. CRUD stands for Create, Read, Update and Delete.

Step-1

• Create an index.js file in the root directory of the project.

• Now redirect to — http://localhost:3000

Step-2

• Create a routes folder inside the root directory and inside this folder create a file by the name items.js.
• In this file, we will be creating all our routes(GET, POST, UPDATE, DELETE).

• Now, inside the index.js file import the items.js file.

• Redirect to — http://localhost:3000/items. You will see the response on the page.

Step-3

• Now we will create our remaining routes inside the items.js file.
• Firstly, create an array by the name itemData in the items.js file.

let itemData = [
     {
        "name": "Waffles",
        "toppings": "strawberry",
        "price": 200
     }
];

• Create a post route as shown below.

• uuidv4(): It is a universally unique identifier that is generated using random numbers. It is an npm package that provides a secure way to generate cryptographically strong unique identifiers with Node.js.

npm install uuidv4

• You can now test the API using VS Code’s thunder client or postman.

• After adding a new item to the array run the GET method API. It will show you two items stored in the itemData array.
• Similarly, we will create the remaining routes as well.
• To get a particular item from the array, we will create a get method API to get an item through a unique ID.
• Likewise, we will create delete and update route to delete and update a particular item through a unique ID.

Step-4

• In this step, we will restructure our code.
• Create a folder name controllers and an items.js file in the folder, where we can separate our routes.

• So our items.js which is inside the routes folder will look like this.

• So, in this article, we learned about four basic CRUD operations using Node.js. We came to know about three npm packages that are express, body-parser and uuidv4.
• I hope you find this article interesting and learned something useful. Keep Clapping.👏👏

• You can connect with me on Github, Linkedin and Twitter.