express-project-07-simple-crud-api

A simple Express.js CRUD API for notes using in-memory storage.

Project Goal

This project is built to understand the core CRUD operations in Express.js.

It covers:

• creating a note
• reading all notes
• reading a single note
• updating a note
• deleting a note
• separating code into routes and controllers
• using JSON request bodies
• testing APIs with a REST client

Tech Stack

• Node.js
• Express.js
• Nodemon

Features

• GET all notes
• GET single note by id
• POST create note
• PUT update note
• DELETE note
• in-memory data storage using a local array
• modular folder structure with routes and controllers

Project Structure

express-project-07-simple-crud-api
│
├── src
│   ├── controllers
│   │   └── notes.controller.js
│   └── routes
│       └── notes.route.js
│
├── api-test.rest
├── index.js
├── package.json
├── package-lock.json
└── .gitignore

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/a2rp/express-project-07-simple-crud-api.git
cd express-project-07-simple-crud-api

Install dependencies:

npm install

Run the Project

Run in development mode:

npm run dev

Run normally:

npm start

Server runs at:

http://localhost:1198

API Endpoints

Root Route

GET /

Response:

{
    "success": true,
    "message": "Simple CRUD API is running"
}

Get All Notes

GET /notes

Get Single Note

GET /notes/:id

Example:

GET /notes/1

Create Note

POST /notes
Content-Type: application/json

Request body:

{
    "title": "New Note",
    "content": "This is a new note"
}

Update Note

PUT /notes/:id
Content-Type: application/json

Example body:

{
    "title": "Updated Note Title",
    "content": "Updated note content"
}

Delete Note

DELETE /notes/:id

Testing APIs

You can test the API using:

• VS Code REST Client extension with api-test.rest
• Postman
• Thunder Client
• browser for GET routes

Important Note

This project uses in-memory storage.

That means:

• notes are stored in a JavaScript array
• data is not saved in a real database
• restarting the server resets the data

This is useful for learning CRUD logic before moving to MongoDB or another database.

Learning Outcome

By building this project, you learn how to:

• build a CRUD API in Express.js
• organize backend code using routes and controllers
• work with request params and request body
• send proper JSON responses
• handle simple validation
• test APIs during development

Future Improvements

• connect MongoDB for persistent storage
• add request validation
• use UUID instead of manual id generation
• add timestamps
• add error handling middleware

Author

Ashish Ranjan

Follow me:

• GitHub: https://github.com/a2rp
• Portfolio: https://www.ashishranjan.net
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aashishranjan
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theash.ashish/