NodeExpressProject

To use the docker functionality , first install Docker/Docker Compose.

Make a simple backend

For a previous project I needed a back-end and used a simple external API. When doing another private project I realised that I should not use someone elses backend if I want to store user-data. I am therefore trying to learn it for myself. Since I already know JavaScript , Node and Express seem the obvious tools. I am using test driven development for this project, both for actual testing before deploying and for declaring what I want the API to return before i'm writing the code. It also functions as a sort of documentation on how the app is intended to work.

Use ES6 syntax for importing/exporting

Jest and Node seem to have problems using ES6 syntax. You would have to use the old way of importing/exporting like so:

Importing:

const express = require("express");

Exporting:

module.exports = { thisFunction, thatVariable };

For someone like me, who wants to use ES6 syntax there is a solution.

Some changes in the package.json file should do the trick...

For using ES6 modules in node set type attribute in package.json to module,like this:

    "type": "module",

To avoid getting into trouble with Jest, we also need to change how we run the tests by defining the test script as follows:

    "test": "NODE_OPTIONS=--experimental-vm-modules npx jest",

Link to relevant info from Sam Meechward and Jest website. For insight into the difference between Common JS modules and ES6 modules, I found this website enlightening.

Start with a todo-list app

As a starter I am going to set the server up for a todo-list app. I will use TDD with Jest, so I need to examine how to use Jest with a node/express app and how to test a server.

Jest and Supertest

I came across a few videos that use a combination of Jest and Supertest. Supertest is a NPM package that provides a high level abstraction for testing HTTP. More on this here.

Deploying

In the end I would have to deploy the server somewhere. Options for that are :

• Heroku
• Glitch