WEB105 · Back-End Development and APIs with Node.js
About Course
Build a real REST API with Node.js and Express: routing, validation, error handling, middleware, configuration and authentication. You will design and test an orders API for a small business on your own computer.
Who it is for
Front-end learners and junior developers who want to write the server side of web applications.
Prerequisites
Complete WEB103 (WEB104 recommended) and be comfortable with JavaScript functions, objects, promises and JSON.
What you will be able to do
- Explain the Node.js runtime, its event loop and the module system, and structure an Express project.
- Design RESTful endpoints with correct methods, status codes and consistent JSON error responses.
- Validate input and centralize error handling with middleware.
- Protect routes with hashed passwords and token or session authentication, using environment variables for secrets.
Lessons
- Lesson 1 · Node.js and Express foundations
- Lesson 2 · Designing REST APIs: resources, validation and errors
- Lesson 3 · Middleware, configuration and authentication
- Lesson 4 · Lab and assignment
Lab: Build and test an orders API
You will build an Express API with endpoints for products and orders, validate request bodies with Zod and return consistent errors. You will add registration and login with bcrypt-hashed passwords and a signed token, protect the order routes and test every endpoint, including failure cases.
Free tools: Node.js LTS, Express, Zod and bcrypt (free npm packages), VS Code with the free Thunder Client extension or Bruno, and curl
Assessed assignment
Design and build a REST API for a small business process, such as table reservations for a restaurant or service tickets for an appliance repair shop. Provide at least six endpoints covering create, read, update and delete, input validation, pagination on one list endpoint, authentication on write routes and a central error handler. Document the API in a README table with method, path, purpose, request example and possible status codes, and include a test collection that exercises success and failure cases.
| Criterion | Weight | What excellent work looks like |
|---|---|---|
| API design | 25% | Resources and paths are consistent, methods and status codes are correct, and pagination works as documented. |
| Validation and error handling | 25% | Every write endpoint validates input; errors use one consistent JSON shape and never leak stack traces. |
| Security basics | 30% | Passwords are hashed, secrets come from environment variables, protected routes reject missing or invalid tokens. |
| Documentation and tests | 20% | The README is complete and the test collection covers at least one failure case per endpoint. |
Portfolio piece
A documented, authenticated REST API in Node.js with a test collection you can run and show.
Next step
Continue with WEB106 · Databases and Data Modeling for Web Apps · 8 hours · $56.00
Course Content
WEB105 · Back-End Development and APIs with Node.js (8 h)
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Lesson 1 · Node.js and Express foundations
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Lesson 2 · Designing REST APIs: resources, validation and errors
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Lesson 3 · Middleware, configuration and authentication
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Lesson 4 · Lab and assignment
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WEB105 Assessment · Back-End Development and APIs with Node.js