Week 18: Task Management API with Node.js

RESTful API Development and CRUD Operations

Introduction

• You have learned the basics of Node.js and Express.js, now let's test your knowledge of how to setup API endpoints with this Task Management project.

Task 1: Project Setup

1. Clone this project repository in your terminal
2. CD into the project base directory cd Week18_Task_Management_NodeJS
3. Install dependencies:

   npm install

4. Start the server:

   npm start

5. The server will run on http://localhost:3000

Task 2: Understanding the Current Implementation

The project currently has a basic task management API with the following structure:

Current API Endpoints

Main Task Operations:

• GET /api/tasks - Get all tasks (with filtering by status, priority, assignedTo)
• GET /api/tasks/:id - Get task by ID
• POST /api/tasks - Create new task ⚠️ YOU NEED TO COMPLETE THIS
• PUT /api/tasks/:id - Update entire task ⚠️ YOU NEED TO COMPLETE THIS
• DELETE /api/tasks/:id - Delete specific task ⚠️ YOU NEED TO COMPLETE THIS

Data Structure

Each task has the following structure:

{
  "id": "1",
  "title": "Task Title",
  "description": "Task description",
  "status": "pending|in-progress|completed|cancelled",
  "priority": "low|medium|high|urgent",
  "dueDate": "2024-01-15",
  "assignedTo": "John Doe",
  "subtasks": [
    {
      "id": "1.1",
      "title": "Subtask Title",
      "description": "Subtask description",
      "completed": false
    }
  ],
  "createdAt": "2024-01-01T10:00:00.000Z",
  "updatedAt": "2024-01-01T10:00:00.000Z"
}

Task 3: MVP Requirements (Minimum Viable Product)

You need to complete the following endpoints in routes/tasks.js:

1. POST /api/tasks - Create new task

Location: routes/tasks.js around line 152

• Implement the logic to create a new task
• Validate required fields (title, description, status, priority)
• Generate a new ID for the task
• Add timestamps (createdAt, updatedAt)
• Save the task to the JSON file

2. PUT /api/tasks/:id - Update entire task

Location: routes/tasks.js around line 181

• Implement the logic to update an existing task
• Find the task by ID
• Replace the entire task with new data
• Update the updatedAt timestamp
• Save changes to the JSON file

3. DELETE /api/tasks/:id - Delete specific task

Location: routes/tasks.js around line 350

• Implement the logic to delete a task
• Find the task by ID
• Remove the task from the array
• Save changes to the JSON file

Task 4: Testing Your Implementation

You can use Postman to test your endpoints.

Task 5: Stretch Goals

Add User Information to Tasks

Objective: Add user information to each task to track who created it.

Requirements:

1. Update the task data structure in data/tasks.json to include:

   {
     "createdBy": {
       "id": "1",
       "name": "John Doe",
       "email": "john@example.com"
     },
     "assignedBy": {
       "id": "2",
       "name": "Jane Smith",
       "email": "jane@example.com"
     }
   }

2. Update the POST endpoint to include user information:

   • Add createdBy field to new tasks
   • Validate user information
   • Include user details in the response

3. Update the PUT endpoint to handle user changes:

   • Allow updating assignedBy information
   • Track who made the last update
   • Include user information in the response

4. Add user filtering to the GET endpoint:

   • Filter tasks by createdBy user
   • Filter tasks by assignedBy user
   • Add query parameters like ?createdBy=1 or ?assignedBy=2

Example API calls for stretch goals:

# Create task with user information
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/tasks \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": "Task with User",
    "description": "This task includes user info",
    "status": "pending",
    "priority": "medium",
    "createdBy": {
      "id": "1",
      "name": "John Doe",
      "email": "john@example.com"
    }
  }'

# Get tasks by user
curl "http://localhost:3000/api/tasks?createdBy=1"

Learning Objectives

By completing this project, you will demonstrate understanding of:

1. RESTful API Design - Proper endpoint naming and HTTP methods
2. Data Validation - Input validation and sanitization
3. Error Handling - HTTP status codes and error responses
4. File Operations - Reading and writing JSON files
5. Express.js Routing - Route parameters and query strings
6. Async/Await - Handling asynchronous operations

Submission Format

• Complete the POST endpoint for creating tasks
• Complete the PUT endpoint for updating tasks
• Complete the DELETE endpoint for removing tasks
• Test all endpoints using curl or Postman
• Optional: Implement stretch goals with user information

Getting Help

1. Check the existing code - Study the GET endpoints for patterns
2. Read the comments - Look for TODO comments in the code
3. Test frequently - Test each endpoint as you build it
4. Ask questions - Don't hesitate to ask for clarification

Good luck with your implementation! 🚀