Hands-On Introduction to Backend HTTP API with Express.js

Build a basic express server in index.js by importing express, creating an app, and listening on port 8000 with routes for /, /about, and /contact, and use nodemon for restarts.

Learn to build dynamic Express routes using route parameters and query parameters, fetch user by id, and handle post, put, patch, and delete methods with JSON bodies.

Explore express response control by comparing rest.send, rest.json, and rest.status, and learn key http status codes (200, 201, 204, 400–500) and their groups, including content-type handling.

Explore express middlewares that run before routes to log requests and apply rate limiting. Build a simple logging middleware, use express.json, and scope limiters to specific routes.

Learn to serve static content with express using the static middleware, hosting index.html, style.css, and logo.png from a public folder, with a virtual path and no per-file routes.

Build a simple tasks API with Express.js using an in-memory array to create, read, update, and delete tasks, with routes like /tasks and /tasks/:id and UUID IDs.

Refactor the crud api to a cleaner, scalable structure by moving routes to a separate router, reorganizing folders, and adding centralized error handling middleware with optional status codes.

Explore next steps in building an express.js backend, moving to controllers and services, wiring a database, using env files for secrets, and securing routes with json web token or sessions.

Gain the fundamentals of backend development with express.js to build your own APIs from scratch. Explore more hands-on, beginner-friendly courses in the series to deepen your backend skills.