Day 1: Introduction to Node.js, Express, and Building a Basic API

Objective: Understand the basics of Node.js, set up an Express server, and build a simple REST API.

1. Introduction to Node.js and Express

• What is Node.js? Why use it for building APIs?
• Overview of Express.js and its role in simplifying Node.js applications
• Installing Node.js and setting up a new project
  • npm init to create package.json
  • Installing Express with npm install express

2. Setting Up Your First Express Server

• Create a simple Express server
  • Setting up app.js or server.js
  • Basic routes: GET / and handling requests
  • Running the server with node app.js and accessing it via http://localhost:3000
• Understanding Express middleware and request handling

3. Building a Basic REST API

• Concept of RESTful APIs:
  • Overview of HTTP methods: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
  • REST principles (statelessness, resource identification)
• Creating Routes for a Basic API:
  • Building routes to handle GET and POST requests (e.g., fetching a list of users and adding a new user)
• Example: Build an API for a "Users" resource with basic data (in-memory for now)
  • GET /users — Fetch all users
  • POST /users — Add a new user

Day 2: Enhancing the API, Handling Data, and Introduction to Middleware

Objective: Enhance the API with PUT and DELETE methods, add error handling, and learn about middleware.

1. Review of Day 1 and Troubleshooting

• Quick recap of the previous day's content

2. Handling PUT and DELETE Requests

• PUT Method — Update an existing resource (e.g., update user details)
  • Example: PUT /users/:id — Update a user by ID
• DELETE Method — Remove a resource (e.g., delete a user)
  • Example: DELETE /users/:id — Delete a user by ID