REST vs SOAP

REST principles: Resources, HTTP verbs, statelessness

API use cases in modern applications

Tools overview: Postman, Swagger, VS Code

Test a public REST API using Postman

Setting Up the Environment

Installing Node.js / Python (choose backend stack)

Setting up Express.js (Node.js) or Flask (Python)

Project structure and folder organization

Installing essential packages

Hello World API

Create and test a basic GET endpoint

Core CRUD Operations

Defining resources (e.g., users, products, posts)

Implementing endpoints:

GET /items

GET /items/:id

POST /items

PUT /items/:id

DELETE /items/:id

Status codes & responses

Error handling and validation

Build a CRUD API for a sample app (e.g., To-Do App)

Database Integration

Introduction to databases (SQL vs NoSQL)

Connecting API with MongoDB (Mongoose) or PostgreSQL (Sequelize)

Data modeling basics

Performing CRUD operations on DB

Connect and persist data with MongoDB Atlas or local DB

Middleware, Authentication & Authorization

Express middleware / Flask middleware

Authentication methods: API Key, JWT

User signup & login endpoints

Role-based access control (RBAC)

Protecting private routes

Add authentication to the To-Do API

API Documentation & Testing

Swagger/OpenAPI documentation

Writing good API specs

Testing APIs with Postman

Automating tests (Jest + Supertest or Pytest)

Mock data for testing

Document your To-Do API using Swagger

Error Handling, Logging & Best Practices

Standard error formats (JSON errors)

Using try-catch or middleware for error handling

Logging with Winston / Loguru

API versioning

Rate limiting & throttling

Common REST anti-patterns

Add centralized error handler and logging to project

Deployment & Monitoring

Preparing for production (env variables, security headers)

Deploying to cloud (Render, Railway, or Heroku)

Setting up CI/CD basics

Monitoring and uptime alerts (UptimeRobot, Log monitoring)

Deploy your API live and test endpoints

Final Project

Final Project: Build & Deploy a Full RESTful API Application Project Options (Choose One):

Blogging Platform API

Expense Tracker API

Job Listing API

Inventory Management API

CRUD endpoints

User authentication

Database integration

Swagger documentation

Deployment to cloud

Code review

API testing

Live endpoint submission

Downloadable code templates

Weekly mini challenges

Interview prep: REST API questions

Certificate of Completion