Pro REST API Development with Node.js

191 Pages·2015·7.18 MB·English

by  Fernando Doglio (auth.)

Pro REST API
Development
with Node.js
Fernando Doglio
Pro REST API Development with Node.js
Fernando Doglio
La Paz, Canelones
Uruguay
ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-0918-9 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-0917-2
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4842-0917-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015941272
Copyright © 2015 by Fernando Doglio
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To my loving wife, without whom this book would’ve never happened…
Th ank you!

Contents at a Glance
About the Author .....................................................................................................xi
About the Technical Reviewer ...............................................................................xiii
Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................xv
Introduction ...........................................................................................................xvii
■ Chapter 1: Rest 101 ...............................................................................................1
■ Chapter 2: API Design Best Practices ..................................................................25
■ Chapter 3: Node.js and REST ...............................................................................47
■ Chapter 4: Architecting a REST API .....................................................................65
■ Chapter 5: Working with Modules .......................................................................79
■ Chapter 6: Planning Your REST API ...................................................................111
■ Chapter 7: Developing Your REST API ................................................................123
■ Chapter 8: Troubleshooting ...............................................................................167
Index .....................................................................................................................175
v

Contents
About the Author .....................................................................................................xi
About the Technical Reviewer ...............................................................................xiii
Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................xv
Introduction ...........................................................................................................xvii
■ Chapter 1: Rest 101 ...............................................................................................1
Where Did It All Start? ......................................................................................................1
REST Constraints ..............................................................................................................3
Client-Server ..........................................................................................................................................3
Stateless .................................................................................................................................................3
Cacheable ...............................................................................................................................................4
Uniform Interface ....................................................................................................................................5
Layered System ......................................................................................................................................6
Code-on-Demand ...................................................................................................................................7
Resources, Resources, Resources ...................................................................................8
Representations ......................................................................................................................................9
Resource Identifi er ...............................................................................................................................10
Actions ..................................................................................................................................................11
Hypermedia in the Response and Main Entry Point .............................................................................12
Status Codes ..................................................................................................................16
REST vs. the Past ...........................................................................................................18
Summary ........................................................................................................................24
vii
■ CONTENTS
■ Chapter 2: API Design Best Practices ..................................................................25
What Defi nes a Good API? ..............................................................................................25
Developer Friendly .........................................................................................................25
Communication’s Protocol ....................................................................................................................26
Easy-to-Remember Access Points .......................................................................................................26
Uniform Interface ..................................................................................................................................27
Extensibility ....................................................................................................................29
How Is Extensibility Managed? .............................................................................................................30
Up-to-Date Documentation ............................................................................................32
Proper Error Handling .....................................................................................................34
Phase 1: Development of the Client ......................................................................................................34
Phase 2: The Client Is Implemented and Being Used by End Users ......................................................36
Multiple SDK/Libraries ....................................................................................................36
Security ..........................................................................................................................37
Accessing the System ..........................................................................................................................37
Scalability .......................................................................................................................42
Summary ........................................................................................................................45
■ Chapter 3: Node.js and REST ...............................................................................47
Asynchronous Programming ..........................................................................................48
Async Advanced....................................................................................................................................51
Asynchronous I/O ...........................................................................................................54
Async I/O vs. Sync I/O ...........................................................................................................................54
Simplicity........................................................................................................................56
Dynamic Typing ....................................................................................................................................56
Object-Oriented Programming Simplifi ed .............................................................................................57
Prototypal Inheritance ..........................................................................................................................58
Functional Programming Support .........................................................................................................59
Duck Typing ..........................................................................................................................................60
Native Support for JSON .......................................................................................................................60
viii
■ CONTENTS
npm: The Node Package Manager ..................................................................................61
Who’s Using Node.js? .....................................................................................................63
Summary ........................................................................................................................63
■ Chapter 4: Architecting a REST API .....................................................................65
The Request Handler, the Pre-Process Chain,
and the Routes Handler ..................................................................................................66
MVC: a.k.a. Model–View–Controller ...............................................................................69
Alternatives to MVC ..............................................................................................................................72
Response Handler ..........................................................................................................76
Summary ........................................................................................................................78
■ Chapter 5: Working with Modules .......................................................................79
Our Alternatives ..............................................................................................................79
Request/Response Handling .................................................................................................................79
Routes Handling ...................................................................................................................................80
Middleware ...........................................................................................................................................80
Up-to-Date Documentation ...................................................................................................................81
Hypermedia on the Response ...............................................................................................................81
Response and Request validation.........................................................................................................81
The List of Modules ..............................................................................................................................82
Summary ......................................................................................................................109
■ Chapter 6: Planning Your REST API ...................................................................111
The Problem .................................................................................................................111
The Specifi cations ..............................................................................................................................113
Choosing the Right Modules for the Job.............................................................................................120
Summary ......................................................................................................................121
ix