Node, API, Postman - Build a simple but complete REST API with Node, tested made with Chai and Newman, documented with Apidoc

A quick A to Z tutorial for non-developers who want to create a basic POC of an API with Node, Mongo. There is also explanations on how to add tests with Chai and a documentation with Apidoc.

Read more on flaven.fr

Requirements

If Homebrew, Node or Mongo are not installed. Here the shortest procedure to install all requirements on a Mac. Very brief but you got the essentials, if you have already installed these tools, you can jump to the point 1.

Install Postman
Check the website getpostman.com - To manage the API, essential.

Install Homebrew
Check the website brew.sh or launch in the console the following command.

$ /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -k -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Install Node and NPM

$ brew update
$ brew doctor
$ export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"
$ brew install node

Source: https://changelog.com/posts/install-node-js-with-homebrew-on-os-x

Install Newman globally
Check the website brew.sh or launch in the console the following command.

  $ npm install -g newman

Source: https://support.getpostman.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003703325-How-do-I-install-Newman-

Install MongoDB

$ brew update
$ brew install mongodb

At the root of your computer, create the default directory.

  $ mkdir -p /data/db

Run without specifying paths: If your system PATH variable includes the location of the mongod binary and if you use the default data directory (i.e., /data/db), simply enter mongod at the system prompt: mongod.

Source: https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-os-x/

Quick Presentation

You can read the article or not. Here is a quick presentation of the files contained in the repository and their usage.

1. The directory tree
Here is the tree of the application that is contains in the directory node-countries-light-app

See point 2 for the explanations of postman_files directory.

node-countries-light-app/
|-- _app
    |-- _controllers
        |-- countrie.controller.js
    |-- _models
        |-- countrie.model.js
    |-- _routes
        |-- countrie.routes.js
|-- _config
    |-- database.config.js
|-- postman_files
    |-- coll_node_countries_light_app.postman_collection.json
    |-- env_node_countries_light_app.postman_environment.json
|-- _node_modules
    |-- ... 
|-- _public
    |-- apidoc
        |-- ... 
|-- test
    |-- test_the_api.js
|-- apidoc.json
|-- package.json
|-- package-lock.json
|-- server.js

2. JSON files for Postman
All the files used in Postman are in the directory postman_files. The files are stored in this directory, just for convenience. It has no use in the operation of the application.

Filename	Description
coll_node_countries_light_app.postman_collection.json	The collection of queries that can be imported in Postman. There are 6 queries for CRUD operations.
env_node_countries_light_app.postman_environment.json	The name for file environment that is imported in Postam under the name ENV_NODE_COUNTRIES_LIGHT_APP. The file contains the 2 variables {{api_root_url}} and {{api_root_url_countries}}

3. More information
For those, who are looking for more information, a full article is available with additional resources is available @ flaven.fr

Clone this repository

For those who want to get the code directly, you can use the following command.

$ git clone https://github.com/bflaven/node-countries-light-app.git
$ cd node-countries-light-app
$ npm install

After this, you can jump directly to the point 4. CREATE THE DB of the article @ flaven.fr