在 node.js 中存储数据

Question

I got this assessment project from a company which involves HTML,CSS and JavaScript. They sent me a zip file and I'm supposed to implement the app (which is an address book) using the node.js they sent.

The problem is I don't know much about node.js. I've been reading a bunch of stuff online but I still couldn't figure out how to store data. The instructions said that the data is already managed by the server and can be interacted using this API:

API:

GET - api/contacts/
params: none
returns list of contacts


GET - api/contacts/:id
params: {
    id: int
}
returns contact with given id or null if contact does not exist


POST - api/contacts/
data: {
    firstName: string,
    lastName: string,
    email: string
} 
returns saved contact


PUT - api/contacts/
data: {
    id: int,
    contact: 
    {
        firstName: string,
        lastName: string,
        email: string
    }
}
return updated contact


DELETE - api/contacts/:id
params: {
    id: int
}
returns a true or false depending on if contact was successfully deleted

I don't know how to approach this problem. This is for a front-end internship position. I thought about using ajax or something but I think I may be just making it more complicated than it has to be because that's backend stuff. There has to be an easier way of doing this like maybe use a function/method or something?

Update

I spent all Monday night brushing up on JavaScript (I'm a senior at university that doesn't teach JS so everything is self-taught) then I even studied backbone.js that same night. I thought it was a bit complicated so I decided to not do it that way because I don't want the company to think I know backbone.js.

I didn't even know what to do in the beginning because I didn't know node.js either so I also had to do a lot of reading about that. I was thinking of several ways of approaching it and just really needed some guide but couldn't find any.

Anyway thank you very much for the example. I learn best by seeing examples.

Answer 1

It looks like a restful API from the nodejs file sent to you, so using AJAX requests would be the right thing to do.

For example:

$.ajax({
  type: 'POST',
  url: 'http://localhost:nodeport/api/contacts/'
  data: { firstName: 'John', lastName: 'Smith', email: 'j.smith@example.com' }
  success: function(data, status, xhr) { window.alert('Contact '+data.firstName+' saved'); }
});

would store the data in the server and return the saved contact in the success callback.

Answer 2

Well, first you need to use Express framework where you can easely setup routes for your API. For data storage, use MongoDB and Mongoose , which is kind of abstraction for mongodb with some helpful stuff out of the box.

That's basically all.

Answer 3

I think the backend data is handled by the node.js, leave it. Knowing the REST api you should know with GET you get some data, with POST you create and store data, with PUT you update data and with DELETE you delete data. Each call will give you an answer so you know your ajax call was handled well by the backend. As a starter you are, I suggest you use jQuery ajax calls and try to get it done.