Build a REST API in 15 Minutes with Node.js and Express

In this video tutorial, we'll build a fully functional REST API from scratch using Node.js and Express. Perfect for beginners who want to understand backend development.

What We'll Build

A complete CRUD API for a task management system with the following endpoints:

GET    /api/tasks       - List all tasks
POST   /api/tasks       - Create a new task
GET    /api/tasks/:id   - Get a specific task
PUT    /api/tasks/:id   - Update a task
DELETE /api/tasks/:id   - Delete a task

Project Setup

mkdir task-api && cd task-api
npm init -y
npm install express mongoose dotenv cors
npm install -D nodemon

The Server Code

const express = require("express");
const cors = require("cors");
const app = express();

app.use(cors());
app.use(express.json());

// Routes
app.get("/api/tasks", async (req, res) => {
    const tasks = await Task.find().sort({ createdAt: -1 });
    res.json(tasks);
});

app.post("/api/tasks", async (req, res) => {
    const task = new Task(req.body);
    await task.save();
    res.status(201).json(task);
});

app.listen(3000, () => console.log("Server running on port 3000"));

Key Takeaways

1. Express makes routing incredibly simple
2. Mongoose provides elegant MongoDB object modeling
3. Always validate input data before saving
4. Use proper HTTP status codes in responses
5. CORS middleware is essential for frontend integration