JSON API – Simple Backend with JSON Server

This project is a minimal Node.js application that serves data from a JSON file using JSON Server.
It was built to provide a quick, mock backend API for testing and demonstration purposes.

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Project Overview

I created this repository to simulate a real API without the complexity of setting up a full backend stack.
Using JSON Server, I could quickly define endpoints, serve data, and make it accessible for front-end development or prototyping.

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Technologies Used

• Node.js – JavaScript runtime environment
• JSON Server – Mock REST API generator
• JavaScript (ES6) – Core language for backend scripting
• Vercel – Hosting & deployment platform
• npm – Dependency management

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Steps I Performed in This Project

1. Initialized the Node.js Project

• Created a new project directory and ran:

  npm init -y

• This generated the package.json file to manage dependencies.```

2. Installed JSON Server

Added JSON Server as a dependency:

npm install json-server

• This package allows serving a JSON file as a fully functional REST API.

3. Created the Database File

Added a db.json file containing data in JSON format.

Structured the data into collections (e.g., users, posts, products) so JSON Server could automatically create RESTful endpoints.

Example snippet from db.json:

{
  "users": [
    { "id": 1, "name": "Jane Doe" },
    { "id": 2, "name": "John Smith" }
  ]
}

4. Built the Server Script

• Created index.js to configure and start the JSON Server.
• Imported JSON Server, set up middleware, and pointed it to db.json.
• Configured the server to listen on a specific port (default: 3000).

Example:

const jsonServer = require('json-server');
const server = jsonServer.create();
const router = jsonServer.router('db.json');
const middlewares = jsonServer.defaults();

server.use(middlewares);
server.use(router);
server.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('JSON Server is running');
});

5. Tested the API Locally

Ran the server with:

node index.js

Verified endpoints in the browser or Postman:

GET /users GET /users/id POST /users

6. Deployed to Vercel

Linked the GitHub repository to Vercel.

Configured the project with:

• Build Command: npm install
• Start Command: node index.js

Deployed successfully, making the API publicly accessible via a live Vercel URL.