📰 NC News Backend

Project Overview

NC News is a RESTful API that provides access to news articles, comments, users, and topics. It allows users to retrieve, filter, and interact with articles and comments. The project is built using Node.js, Express.js, and PostgreSQL.

🔗 Hosted Version

You can access the hosted version of the API here:
👉 NC News API

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🛠 Prerequisites

Before setting up and running this project, ensure you have the following installed:

• Node.js (Minimum version: v18.0.0)
• PostgreSQL (Minimum version: v12.0)
• Git

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🚀 Getting Started

1️⃣ Clone the Repository

First, clone the repository to your local machine and navigate into the project directory:

git clone https://github.com/PabloProgramming/news_backend
cd news_BE

2️⃣ Install Dependencies

Install all necessary dependencies:

npm install

3️⃣ Set Up the Databases

Before running the project, you need to set up the PostgreSQL databases.

Creating the Databases

Run the following command to create both the development and test databases:

npm run setup-dbs

4️⃣ Environment Configuration

You must create two .env files in the root directory of the project:

📄 .env.development

PGDATABASE=nc_news

📄 .env.test

PGDATABASE=nc_news_test

🚨 Make sure your .gitignore includes:

.env.*

This prevents sensitive credentials from being uploaded to GitHub.

5️⃣ Seed the Database

After setting up the database, seed both the dev-db and the test-db:

npm run seed-test

npm run seed-dev

This command populates the database with sample articles, users, topics, and comments.

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6. Running Tests

To ensure everything is set up correctly, run the test suite:

npm test

If everything is correct, all tests should pass successfully.

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🚀 Running the Server

Start the development server with:

npm start

By default, the server will run on port 9090. You should see an output like:

Listening on port 9090...

You can then access the API at:

http://localhost:9090/api

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📌 API Endpoints

For a list of available endpoints and how to interact with the API, check out:

👉 API Documentation)

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❓ Troubleshooting

🔹 Error: PGDATABASE or DATABASE_URL not set

If you see this error when running the project, make sure:

• You have created the .env files (.env.development and .env.test).
• You have run npm run setup-dbs to create the databases.

🔹 Database Connection Issues

• Ensure PostgreSQL is running on your machine.
• Check that the database names in your .env files match the actual databases created.

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💡 Additional Notes

• If deploying this project to a hosting service (e.g., Heroku, Render), set the DATABASE_URL environment variable accordingly.
• The NODE_ENV variable is automatically set to test when running npm test.

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🤝 Contributing

If you'd like to contribute:
1️⃣ Fork the repository 🍴
2️⃣ Create a new branch 🛠️
3️⃣ Make your changes and commit them ✅
4️⃣ Submit a pull request 📩

Let's build something great together! 🚀✨

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🎯 Minimum Requirements

✅ Node.js: v16+
✅ PostgreSQL: v12+

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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💡 Need Help? Feel free to reach out or create an issue on GitHub! 😊
Happy coding! 🚀👨‍💻