Building API Routes in Next.js

1. Introduction

API routes in Next.js allow you to create RESTful endpoints within your application. This lesson will guide you through the process of building, managing, and optimizing API routes in Next.js.

2. Key Concepts

• API Routes: Special files that allow you to create serverless API endpoints.
• File System Routing: The routing is based on the file structure in the pages/api directory.
• HTTP Methods: Supports standard HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE.

3. Creating API Routes

To create an API route, you need to create a new JavaScript file inside the pages/api directory. The file name will determine the API endpoint.

pages/api/hello.js
export default function handler(req, res) {
    res.status(200).json({ message: 'Hello API' });
}

4. Example

Here’s an example of a simple API route that handles GET and POST requests:

pages/api/data.js
let data = [];

export default function handler(req, res) {
    if (req.method === 'POST') {
        data.push(req.body);
        res.status(201).json({ message: 'Data added', data });
    } else {
        res.status(200).json(data);
    }
}

5. Best Practices

• Keep your API routes simple and focused on one task.
• Use appropriate HTTP status codes for responses.
• Validate incoming data to ensure security.
• Implement error handling to manage different scenarios.

6. FAQ