How to Build Secure Node.js Rest APIs?

Ever since we have got to know about the internet and have started using it, the world has become a small family. Everything is possible with just a click. From our mobile or desktop, we can do anything like post pictures on social media for entertainment purposes, buy clothes, book plane tickets for traveling, pay bills, transfer money to other people who are in need, and many more things have become possible with the help of the internet.

But I am sure once in your mind a thought must have occurred to you that how different smartphones and desktops are connected to each other?

If you are working with a software development company, you might have heard about Application Programming Interface, also known as APIs.

Many people belong to a non-technical background, so let me explain it in simple words.

Application Programming Interface is a language that will help you in accessing data, provide security to your app, extend functionality for your app so that it becomes easy for the application to do tasks. Both the applications can connect easily with each other. APIs are of many types based on their usefulness, but our focus will be on 2 APIs, SOAP and REST, that are in demand with the help of helping you quickly acquire web services.

What is SOAP?

Simple Object Access Protocol is also known as SOAP. SOAP is a highly secure API as it uses SSL and HTTPS, and it also requires more resources than REST.

What is REST?

REST (Resourceful State Transfer) is an excellent architectural style that is less secure than SOAP. It uses WS-security and needs to use fewer resources than SOAP.

And so, due to this reason, developers prefer to use REST because REST architecture helps you focus on the operations of the object.

What is a node?

Node is an open-source JavaScript runtime used for backend API services, and due to its single-threaded nature, it also helps in non-blocking and event-driven servers.

Advantages of Node.js

Fast

Packages

Easy to learn

Good for microservice

Javascript on a server

Support and community

Now coming to the main topic of this blog.

How you can create a secure Node.js Rest API

You can make Node.js REST APIs securely in minimum time by following these below mentioned simple instructions:

Instructions for getting started: the first step is to download the Node.js version that is stable; after you download it, install it in your system by following the instructions. You should be aware that when you are installing the Node.js version, no apps should be running in your background. Now start with the whole new case. To show the version of installed Node in your system, you should type the following two commands.

npm -v

node -v

2. Get started with the new app: to get created with the new app, you must follow three methods.

In the first method, you can generate the files by yourself. The files involved in the Node.js app are first one is the .js file, and the second one is the .json file in which involvement of few features and properties are included.

• The following method you can use is the NPM tool method, a straightforward method although it may take its own little time and sometimes be a little slow. You need to do only one thing in that specific folder of your system where you want to create the app, which is opening your CMD and type npm, and it will make your package .json file.

• The last method is easy for experts; however, it can be pretty complicated for beginners, so avoid this method if you are a beginner. In this method, diverse files will be created that will become quite a task for a beginner.

3. Installing express: the next step is to install express, and for that, you need to open the folder and register the command npm install

npm install express --save

4. App creation: for creating your app note the code mentioned below and name the file whatever you like

var express = require("express");

var app = express();

app.listen(3000, () => {

console.log("Server running on port 3000");

});

5. Set up request handlers: Every server has to look after three main things: see that the request is received by you, process that request, and make sure to return a response. So for this purpose, you should use your routes.

6. Run the app: now, the last step is to run your app, and for that, you have to write the below-mentioned command:

node app.js

Conclusion;

To conclude, these were the steps through which you can implement Node.js Rest APIs from scratch. These were the pivotal API which I hope that you will find helpful.