API Development in JavaScript (Node.js): A Practical Guide

The book "API Development in JavaScript (Node.js)" is a practical guide to building modern web services and APIs using the Node.js ecosystem. It covers the full development cycle: from architecture design to deploying a finished product.

What this book is about

You will learn how to create high-performance and scalable APIs. The book starts with the basics of Node.js and Express.js, then moves on to more advanced topics: working with databases (MongoDB, PostgreSQL), authentication (JWT, OAuth2), implementing RESTful and GraphQL APIs, error handling, logging, caching, and performance optimization.

Who this book is for

• Beginner JavaScript developers looking to master backend development
• Frontend developers seeking to understand how APIs work "under the hood"
• Experienced programmers transitioning to Node.js from other languages
• Team leads and architects designing microservice systems

What you will learn

• Designing RESTful APIs following best practices (HATEOAS, versioning, pagination)
• Creating GraphQL schemas and resolvers with Apollo Server
• Integrating with relational and NoSQL databases via ORMs (Prisma, Sequelize)
• Implementing authentication and authorization (JWT, OAuth, RBAC)
• Writing unit and integration tests with Jest and Supertest
• Documenting APIs using Swagger/OpenAPI
• Deploying to Docker, VPS, and cloud platforms (Heroku, AWS)
• Performance optimization: clustering, caching, message queues

Why you should read it

The book contains numerous code examples ready for use in real projects. Each chapter ends with a practical assignment to help reinforce the material. You will gain not only theoretical knowledge but also a ready-made template for building your own API, which can be used as a foundation for commercial projects.

The author is Alexey Voronov, a senior backend developer with 8 years of experience in Node.js, and the author of popular courses on Stepik and Udemy. In the book, he shares real-world cases from commercial development and common mistakes beginners make.