A practical guide to building clean, production-ready REST APIs using Node.js and Express.

Project Structure

A well-organized project is half the battle:

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src/
├── controllers/
├── routes/
├── middleware/
├── models/
└── index.ts

Creating Your First Endpoint

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const express = require('express')
const app = express()

app.get('/api/users', (req, res) => {
  res.json({ users: [] })
})

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server running on port 3000')
})

Middleware Magic

Middleware is what makes Express powerful:

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const authMiddleware = (req, res, next) => {
  const token = req.headers.authorization
  if (!token) return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Unauthorized' })
  next()
}

Best Practices

  1. Always validate input data
  2. Use proper HTTP status codes
  3. Implement rate limiting
  4. Write comprehensive error handlers

Building APIs is an art — keep it simple, keep it consistent.