Using node as api and static - node.js

I'm extremely new to web development. I've bought a domain name (let say 'domain.com' and what I want is to have two links: one 'api.domain.com' with MySql database and Node server for API; and second is: 'domain.com' with some client-side app which will call to 'api.domain.com' for data. Same for native mobile apps which will call 'api.domain.com'.
What NodeJS frameworks will you suggest to best serve this needs. And how are those "domain tricks" called, so I can read about how to organise it.

For bare web framework and middleware abstraction, please see express
For Extensive API development and integration, please see loopback
For enterprise features to manage your deployments, please see strongloop

Related

How nodejs work with Angular ? Is it api or something different?

I have a question already search on google but not find a good answer.
What is the job of nodejs & ExpressJS in mean stack development ? Like is it some thing like php to create api and angular will call it ? Or something else
You're exactly right, Node.js is used in MEAN stack to create backend code and APIs that are called from a frontend Angular app.
Angular is the way to create an SPA (Single Page Application).
Wikipedia:
A single-page application (SPA) is a web application or web site that
interacts with the user by dynamically rewriting the current page
rather than loading entire new pages from a server.
ExpressJS
What is Express.js. Express is a fast, assertive, essential and
moderate web framework of Node.js. You can assume express as a layer
built on the top of the Node.js that helps manage a server and routes.
It provides a robust set of features to develop web and mobile applications.
So on top of node-js which is your server side application where you can build your apis that your angular SPA will consume, you have Express JS which is a ready solution to help you.
This way, you will not need to solve problems like routing which have already been solved by the framework in an "optimal" or at least commonly agreed "good enough" way.
There is an excellent answer on express js in stackoverflow here
Yes, you right it is like so. NodeJs is used to create a server, then APIs and Angular call those API from the Front-End.
Detailed Description:
What is NodeJs
You can create a server using NodeJs where you will have a bunch of APIs.
These APIs can be called from an Angular app.
Official Definition: Node.js is a runtime environment that executes JavaScript code outside of a browser. Outside of a browser means Server.
What is ExpressJs
ExpressJS is a prebuilt NodeJS framework that can help you in creating server-side web applications faster and smarter.
Note: It is not necessary to use ExpressJs if you are using NodeJs.
What is Angular
Angular is a framework for building Single Page Application(SAP) web
applications.
SAP means your site does not reload the page when you move from one page to another.
Your Angular app calls NodeJs API.
Angular is a library for building Single Page Applications which (typically) run inside a web browser.
Node.js is a way of running software written in JavaScript outside of a browser. It has many uses.
Software written to run under Node.js — that is strictly relevant to the topics you are asking about — includes:
Build tools used with Angular (converting code is written in ways optimal for developers to edit and debug to ways optimal for delivering to and running in a browser).
Other helper tools for software development (such as #angular/cli which creates a skeleton set of code for an Angular project)
HTTP servers used to provide web services (a type of API) for client applications (which may be written in Angular) to access
Express.js is a library for Node.js which provides prewritten solutions for many of the tasks an HTTP server needs to perform.
You can write many kinds of software in Node.js. I have some code lurking around that loops over all the images in a directory and spits out a PDF of them. It doesn't even go near the Internet.

How can I convert a HTML template into a Node.JS web app

I'm starting out on my Node.JS journey and I discovered a fantastic boilerplate over at https://github.com/azouaoui-med/pro-sidebar-template. I'm unsure though how to turn the static html into a web app. Just wondering how someone with more experience would do this?
Do I take the html and translate it into a PUG template file? I'm guessing to then make the onclick / links actually run some code, i'd need to point them at the routes setup in the web app?
Sorry to ask such inexperienced questions, web apps seem to take a vastly different approach to the desktop apps i'm familiar with programming
I'm wanting to create a web app that runs on a server, which I will later put on the desktop via electron.
thanks
The project you have is using browser-sync which indirectly uses NodeJS to run a local server and host the web application files.
Do I take the HTML and translate it into a PUG template file?
I am not sure about this question unless you specifically want to use server-side rendering I am not sure I would recommend this to start with especially if you plan to later convert this to a desktop application.
[Note* - Assuming you are referencing this library PUGJS in statements above ]
Now For this requirement I'm wanting to create a web app that runs on a server, which I will later put on the desktop via electron.
This will require you to make your data serving layer which is most commonly called backend separate from that of the data viewing layer which is most commonly referred to as front-end. Thus a case for using the same data layer across different types of clients viz. A web application and/or A desktop application ( electron if you choose so )
Step 1 - Define what sort of web application architecture you want to follow or use. This will be based on your project and business requirements. From what information I have so far I would suggest a simple client-server architecture where your frontend or web-application is the client which makes REST API calls to the backend (API Server) and thus produces a meaningful result.
Step 2 - Start with the creation of 2 projects a frontend where your HTML, CSS JS, etc will be and a simple NodeJS script to serve this static web app when deployed on the server. I am going with NodeJS since the context of this question is suggesting the same.
Step 3 - The other project which will only be an API Server or Backend. This server will provide only REST API to the frontend. This server will talk to the database and provide other services like authentication and logging etc. You can use expressJS for this also in the frontend project.
Here is a simplistic representation of the client-server model which you can reference.
Some additional links for you to digest.
What is the difference between a web application and a client/server application?
https://medium.com/codiumclub/web-application-architecture-part-1-guide-to-become-full-stack-developer-cc9526a3519b

Adding strapi to an express server

I want to build a self-hosted website with nodejs and the express framework because I'm already familar with that. However, using a CMS for this project is a requirement, so I'm looking for a suited and easy-to-use/-learn CMS and discovered strapi which I quite like.
Setting up an API with strapi is easy indeed but now I'm struggling with adding strapi to an express server. My goal is one express server with strapi, which also hosts the website. So, I can control the routing with express (which I'm used to) and can render the site on the server.
Can somebody explain me how to do that and maybe give a small example? The examples I found, are only about hosting the API externally and using a client-side web framework or a static site generator.
Or is my vision not possible with strapi and I should use another CMS like KeystoneJS (which is already built on Express)?
Thanks in advance!
Using Express with Strapi must be very complex and does not really make sense.
Strapi is based on Koa, which has been designed by the team behind Express. If you are coming from Express, eyou will get confortable with Koa very quickly. Here is the documentation: https://koajs.com.

Any tutorials or guides for Shopify app development with node?

My company is wanting to migrate their entire site to Shopify. We use node for our backend, so we're hoping to integrate that into the site. I am new though, and not experienced with node or Shopify app development, so I was hoping to find a tutorial or guide, but it seems that almost all resources are specifically for ruby. Is there anything out there I'm just not seeing?
Bonus question:
Is express routing possible on Shopify?
The node-shopify-api library has some decent examples as well as being a very useful core of a Node based Shopify app.
Routing is possible only for apps attached at a proxy url.

How to build Restful API without using frontend javascript

I have been searching all over for a tutorial that could make a RESTFul API without using any frontend javascript to no avail. I am very new to Javascript/ web-development and have been doing many tutorials and mini projects to get myself acquainted with it.
This is a test for a job at a startup as they looking for an entry level developer. Their requirements are much different as they want me to use their in house build APIs.
What I am looking for is some help on how to get started building a RESTful API using node.js, express, Mongo and without using any frontend javascript. Thanks.
Recommendations for tutorials usually don't make good questions for Stack Overflow, but you might want to take a look at the following books. They helped me out quite a bit when getting started with Node:
Express Web Application Development
Advanced Express Web Application Development
RESTful Web API Design with Node.js
As others have commented, a REpresentational State Transfer API is implemented server-side. You could consume such an API from the client-side using JavaScript, but not build one on the client-side.
Express is a very popular web framework for Node, and you can certainly use it to build APIs, but you might also take a look at Restify. Hope that helps you out.

Resources