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CSC105 Backend 27/4/23

1. What is the Backend?

Backend development (often called the “server-side” development), is the creation of everything that goes on behind the scenes of a website or application that the user can’t see.

The backend normally consists of an application, server and database. As you interact with a site by entering information, this information is stored in a database that resides on a server. Results are then returned to you to be displayed on the site as frontend code.

2. Why not just connect the Frontend directly to the Database???????

  • If you connect your database directly from the frontend, you are exposing all your database credentials to the browser, and anyone can look up the code in the console and take it.
  • When your database is exposed, anyone can query the data from your databse, just by running a database query in browser console, which exposes other users data too.
  • it is not secure at all for managing data or making an algorithm at the frontend.

3. What is API?

API stands for Application Programming Interface. that is the mechanism that enable two software components to communicate with each other using a set of definitions and protocols. For example Frontend and Backend are mostly using REST APIs to communicate with each other.

4. What is REST APIs?

A RESTful API is an architectural style for an application program interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to access the data using HTTP protocol to communicate between Frontend and Backend.

Let's see the example

  1. Go to the Instagram on website. https://www.instagram.com/
  2. Go to any profile you want.
  3. Press Ctrl (or Command) + Shift + I or F12 to open DevTools, the choose Network tab and filter Fetch/XHR data

  • For some students that are using Microsoft Edge - Click the right arrow and choose Network

  1. Refresh the page.
  2. After you have refreshed the page, you will see that a lot of requests that sent to the Intragram server.

  1. Click the row name that leading with ?username=... and click the Headers

Let's see the details in the Headers -> General

  • The Request URL is the link that you sent to request the data from the Instragram server
  • The Request Method is the method that Identify the action to be performed for a given resource from the Instragram server, For this class we will focus on 5 HTTP methods (you will see the example later).
    • GET - Retrieve data from the server
    • PUT - Handles updates by replacing the entire entity
    • POST - Create data
    • PATCH - Only updates the fields that you give it
    • DELETE - Delete data
  • The Status Code is the HTTP response status codes indicate whether a specific HTTP request has been successfully completed. Responses that we focused in this class are grouped in three classes:
    • Successful responses (200 – 299) ✅
    • Client error responses (400 – 499) ❌
    • Server error responses (500 – 599) ❌

  • The Preview and Response are the response from the Instragram server that mostly uses JSON format.
  1. Right click at the data response at the first line and click copy object.

  1. Go to the Visual Studio Code and Click open and create a folder and click open

  1. Create a response.json file

  1. Paste the data that you have copied from the webstie.

  • This is the data response from instragram that uses to display in the website. 👆🏻

5. What is JSON?

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a standard text-based format for representing structured data based on JavaScript object syntax. It is commonly used for transmitting data in web applications (e.g., sending some data from the server to the client, so it can be displayed on a web page)

How to access the data from JSON?

Let's see the example ...

  • In the Visual Studio Code, create an index.js file

  • Copy this code to your index.js file
const simpleJsonData = {
  squadName: "Super hero squad",
  homeTown: "Metro City",
  formed: 2016,
  secretBase: "Super tower",
  active: true,
  permissions: {
    accessData: false,
    fly: true,
  },
  members: [
    {
      name: "Molecule Man",
      age: 29,
      secretIdentity: "Dan Jukes",
      powers: ["Radiation resistance", "Turning tiny", "Radiation blast"],
    },
    {
      name: "Madame Uppercut",
      age: 39,
      secretIdentity: "Jane Wilson",
      powers: [
        "Million tonne punch",
        "Damage resistance",
        "Superhuman reflexes",
      ],
    },
    {
      name: "Eternal Flame",
      age: 1000000,
      secretIdentity: "Unknown",
      powers: [
        "Immortality",
        "Heat Immunity",
        "Inferno",
        "Teleportation",
        "Interdimensional travel",
      ],
    },
  ],
};

If we loaded this string into a JavaScript program and parsed it into a variable called simpleJsonData for example, we could then access the data inside it using the same dot/bracket notation we looked at in the JavaScript object basics article. For example:

simpleJsonData.squadName // "Super hero squad" -> This one is more simple
// or
simpleJsonData["squadName"] // "Super hero squad"

Try to run from the VS Code

const simpleJsonData = {
  squadName: "Super hero squad",
  homeTown: "Metro City",
  ...
};
  
console.log(simpleJsonData.squadName);
console.log(simpleJsonData["squadName"]);
  • Create a terminal

  • Run the code node index.js that will run the index.js file that usin NodeJS
  • You will see the the output the terminal that show the value of the squadName

try more ...

simpleJsonData.permissions.accessData
// or
simpleJsonData["permissions"]["accessData"]

// Same output

To access data further down the hierarchy, you have to chain the required property names and array indexes together. For example, to access the third superpower of the second hero listed in the members list, you'd do this:

simpleJsonData.members[0]
// or
simpleJsonData["members"][0]

// Same output


simpleJsonData.members[1].powers[2]
// or
simpleJsonData['members'][1]['powers'][2]
// Same output

Let's try to import the response.json file that you copied from the Instragram.
  • Create a simpleInstragramData.js file

  • import the response.json to sampleInstragramData.js file
const igData = require("./response.json");

  • Try to show some data from response.json

--- End of the example ---

6. ExpressJS

Express JS is a Node.js framework designed to build API's that facilitate communication through HTTP requests and responses. One of the remarkable things about Express is that it gives developers complete control over the requests and responses that are associated with each of its app’s methods.

Let's start writing code and initializing the JavaScript project.

  1. Go to the Visual Studio Code and Click open and create a folder and click open

  1. Create a New Terminal

  1. Run npm init in your terminal for initializing your JavaScript project

  2. After you run the npm init command, it will ask you about the package name which is the name of your project. (if you don't want to name your project you just press enter to skip, and it will name the project as a name that you see in the parenthesis) 👇🏻

package name can only contain URL-friendly characters and name can no longer contain capital letters.

  1. In the version, you can specify the version of the project, If you don't want to specify the version, you just press Enter to skip this, it will set version 1.0.0 as default. 👇🏻

  1. The description is just a description of your project, If you don't want to add a description, you just press Enter to skip this. 👇🏻

  1. The entry point is the file from which execution starts. It depends on project configuration and run time environment of the technology we are using.
  • Examples : For a node.js project index.js is used initializes the app and glues everything together.

  • For the entry point we will use index.js file as a main file, press Enter to skip this, and use the index.js as a default. 👆🏻
  1. Skip the test command 👇🏻

  1. For the git repository, you just leave it blank.

  1. For the keywords, you just leave it blank.

  1. The author is just a name of ther owner of the project, you can leave it blank, if you don't want to fill in a name.

  1. The licence, you just leave it blank, the default will be an ISC licence.

  1. After that, it will show the data in the package.json file that shows the information of the project that you have filled in the command line.
  • Press Enter to create a JavaScript project.

  1. After that, you will see the package.json file that has been created after you create a JavaScript project.

What is the package.json?

The package.json file contains descriptive and functional metadata about a project, such as a name, version, and dependencies. The file provides the npm package manager with various information to help identify the project and handle dependencies.

{
  "name": "simple_express",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Simple ExpressJS project",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC"
}

Let's write a simple hello world API using ExpressJS

  1. Install the ExpressJS framework to your project, by enter the command line npm install express

  • After you installed the express framework to your projec, you will see the package.json has been updated, its add the dependencies object to the file.

  • dependencies is the object that contains version of the module of your framework, library that you use in your project. 👇🏻

{
  "name": "simple_express",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Simple ExpressJS project",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "dependencies": {
    "express": "^4.18.2"
  }
}

  • And you will see the package-lock.json and node_modules folder that created in your project.

  • package-lock.json is a lockfile that holds information on the dependencies or packages installed for a node.js project, including their exact version numbers.

  • node_modules folder is the folder that contains the files from your frameworks, libraries that you installed to your project. 👇🏻

  1. Create index.js file

  1. Write the following code
const express = require("express");
const app = express();
const port = 3000;

app.get("/", (req, res) => {
  res.send("Hello World!");
});

app.listen(port, () => {
  console.log(`Example app listening on port ${port}`);
});
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