samuel1008 / express-personal-api

Build an API about YOU

Personal API - Weekend Lab

Your goal is to build a API about yourself. Your API will incorporate:

• Well-documented JSON API Endpoints
• A full set of REST-ful Routes (GET, POST, UPDATE, DELETE)
• At least one CRUD-able resource (Create, Read, Update, Destroy)
• and an /api/profile endpoint with some basic details about you

Please fork & clone this repo to get started.

Part 0. Deploy to Heroku

Before we start coding, our first goal together is to configure our application so that it can be deployed to Heroku (a web application host).

Follow the instructions here: Deploying Express Apps to Heroku

As you continue to work on this project, you'll need to remember to push your changes to heroku (just like you would with github!):

# git add . -A
# git commit -m "detailed description of what I changed"
git push heroku master
heroku open

It's common for code to break "in production" (broken links, different environment, missing dependenies...), so do your best to debug!

Part 1. Personal API

Now that we're deployed, it's time to start coding your "personal" api!

Minimum Requirements

• Documented API Endpoints
  • You must document your API endpoints. We really want to know how to use your API! And for starters, we need to know what endpoints exist!
    • Don't make us dictionary attack your site with guesses!
  • One cool way to do this is to create an endpoint that describes all the available endpoints(!). We've set you up with an example in server.js. Don't forget to update it!
    • See the Open API Initiative for a neat example of this.
  • This is also a great way to plan out the features you want to develop. So we highly recommend that you do this step first!
• A Profile Endpoint (/api/profile) that responds with hard-coded data:
  • name - a string
  • github_link - a url to your github profile
  • github_profile_image - the url of your github profile image
  • current_city
  • pets - an array of your pets
    • e.g. [{name: "foo", type: "Cat", breed: "Siamese"}, {name: "bar", type: "Dog", breed: "Dalmation"}]
• At least one resource (mongoose model) that you can CRUD using RESTful Routes
  • That means endpoints for index, show, create update, delete!
  • Here are some ideas:
    • Wish list (e.g. gifts or wishes)
      • _id, description, price, amazon_link
    • action_figures or toys you've owned
      • _id, title, maker, genre, condition
    • destinations you like, or vacations
      • _id, country, date, duration, photo
    • movies or shows you like
      • _id, title, season, director
    • portfolio_projects or freestyle_rap_lyrics
      • _id, title, body, date

All API Endpoints must return JSON.

Pro-Tip: One good strategy is to add the database last. Start with your api routes and some hard-coded data. Make sure it's working the way you want before tackling the database layer!

API Stretch Goals

• Profile info stretch goals
  • Add a days_old field that calculates how many days old you are.
  • Add an is_awake field that's only true between 8am and 10pm!
  • Add an is_hungry field that's only true around lunch and dinner!
• CRUD resource stretch goals
  • Use query parameters to filter results from one of your CRUD endpoints:
    • e.g. ?limit=2 only return two results
  • Create a /search endpoint
    • e.g. ?q=mad+men only returns tv shows with that in the title
    • e.g. ?type=romance only returns romance novels

Examples

An example API for 'Jon Snow' might have endpoints like:

JSON API Endpoint           Response JSON
=============               =============
GET /api/profile            {
                              name: "Jon Snow",
                              github_link: "http://github.com/u-know-nothing-jon-snow",
                              current_city: "The Wall",
                              is_awake: false,
                              family_members: [ 
                                { name: 'Arya Stark', relationship: 'sister' }, 
                                { name: 'Bran Stark', relationship: 'brother' }
                              ]
                            }

GET /api/projects           [
                             {
                                _id: 2,
                                name: 'Defeat the wildlings',
                                type: 'quest',
                                opponents: [ 'Mance Rayder', 'Lord of Bones'],
                                status: 'resolved'
                             },
                             { 
                                _id: 3,
                                name: 'Save the wildlings',
                                type: 'campaign',
                                opponents: ['the Night Watch', 'the Others'],
                                status: 'pending'
                             }
                            ]

GET /api/projects?limit=1   [ { _id: 2, name:'Defeat...' } ]

GET /api/projects?status=pending
                            [ { _id: 3, name:'Save...' } ]                                
GET /api/projects/2         { _id: 2, name:'Defeat...' }

POST /api/projects          etc
PUT /api/projects/2         etc
DELETE /api/projects/2      etc

Make sure to spend time planning this part out!

Part 2. Personal Dashboard

Minimum Requirements

Consume the Personal API you just created, and use it to build your own personal dashboard.

• Create an index.html homepage that's linked to your main javascript and css files.
• Use jQuery and AJAX to consume your Personal API.
• Use Handlebars Templating to render data to the page.
• Display at least one image/gif that you retrieved from your Personal API.
• Create at least one form, so you can CRUD at least one of your resources.
• Get rid of that ugly blue background. Style it up! Make your momma proud.