Accessing MongoDB Data via REST API

Introduction

RESTful APIs provide a convenient way to interact with MongoDB databases over HTTP. This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating a REST API to perform CRUD operations on MongoDB data using Node.js and Express.

Setting Up

Before you begin, ensure that you have Node.js and npm installed on your machine. You can install them from the official Node.js website.

Creating a Node.js Application

First, create a new directory for your project and initialize a new Node.js application:

Initializing Node.js Application

mkdir mongodb-rest-api
cd mongodb-rest-api
npm init -y

Installing Dependencies

Install the necessary dependencies: Express, Mongoose, and body-parser:

Installing Dependencies

npm install express mongoose body-parser

Creating the Server

Create a file named server.js and set up the Express server:

server.js

const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const app = express();
const port = 3000;

app.use(bodyParser.json());

mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost:27017/mydatabase', { useNewUrlParser: true, useUnifiedTopology: true });

const User = mongoose.model('User', new mongoose.Schema({
    name: String,
    age: Number
}));

app.post('/users', async (req, res) => {
    const user = new User(req.body);
    await user.save();
    res.send(user);
});

app.get('/users', async (req, res) => {
    const users = await User.find();
    res.send(users);
});

app.get('/users/:id', async (req, res) => {
    const user = await User.findById(req.params.id);
    res.send(user);
});

app.put('/users/:id', async (req, res) => {
    const user = await User.findByIdAndUpdate(req.params.id, req.body, { new: true });
    res.send(user);
});

app.delete('/users/:id', async (req, res) => {
    await User.findByIdAndDelete(req.params.id);
    res.send({ message: 'User deleted' });
});

app.listen(port, () => {
    console.log(`Server is running on http://localhost:${port}`);
});

Running the Server

Start the server using the following command:

Starting the Server

node server.js

Testing the API

You can test the API using a tool like Postman or CURL. Here are some example requests:

Creating a User

POST http://localhost:3000/users
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "name": "John Doe",
    "age": 30
}

Getting All Users

GET http://localhost:3000/users

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned how to create a REST API to perform CRUD operations on MongoDB data using Node.js and Express. This approach allows you to build scalable and efficient APIs for your MongoDB databases.