Overview

Class Central Tips

Node is the first choice for developing server-side applications as it allows for cross-platform application development. When connected with databases, Node revolutionizes the development of web applications, enabling robust and scalable data manipulation. In this intermediate-level IBM course, you will learn how to construct RESTful APIs using Node.js and the Express framework to communicate with NoSQL databases like MongoDB. You will explore approaches to create endpoints, secure them with web tokens, seamlessly handle errors, debug and deploy applications efficiently. Additionally, the course will help you with optimization techniques, back-end performance, and how to scale these applications to deploy a fully functional cloud-native application on cloud platforms. The course consists of a combination of instructional videos, and assessments to learn the concepts. You will test your knowledge with practice and graded assessments and implement the skills you learn in hands-on labs and a final project so you have artifacts to showcase your knowledge to future potential employers.

Syllabus

Introduction to Working with Databases

This module introduces you to data and databases. You will learn about relational and non-relational NoSQL databases and their uses. You will also be introduced to MongoDB, and its capabilities, and understand how to leverage it for your database needs. Finally, you will also design and implement a database for a product catalog.

Working with Node and Databases

In this module, you will learn about NoSQL databases. You will explore how to create scalable and efficient Node applications using the NoSQL database, MongoDB. You will also learn how to choose a NoSQL database for your Node application. You get oriented with the process of connecting Node to the MongoDB database and explore how to troubleshoot these connections. This module will also help you familiarize with the features of MongoDB and enable you to query and manipulate data using it. You will understand CRUD operations. You will learn different techniques of authentication, authorization, and handling user sessions and cookies.

Working with REST API’s and advanced Node concepts

In this module, you will learn APIs and RESTful APIs. You will explore HTTP methods in RESTful APIs, resource and endpoint design, different data formats, how to authenticate clients and grant access to protected resources. This module provides you with insights into the Express framework, routes and controllers. You will study how to handle errors in request processing. This module is a guide to various approaches to versioning during API. You will delve into the common pagination techniques including how to manage conflicts between versioning and pagination. This module orients you with CRUD operations and how to implement them. You will get an understanding of JSON web tokens, also known as JWT, which are used to secure applications with RESTful API.

Error Handling and Middleware

This module introduces you to error handling in Node. You will learn common types of errors and explore various error-handling techniques. This module provides you with an overview of customer error-handling middleware, its benefits, and its implementation in real-world scenarios. You will also get familiar with request validation and request sanitization using common request validation techniques. This module also introduces you to rate limiting and throttling.

Scaling and Deploying Node Applications

In this module you will explore the Node application deployment process, manage dependencies and versions and familiarize yourself with authentication and authorization mechanisms. This module presents you with the process of increasing the capacity of an application via an overview of different scaling approaches and load-balancing strategies. You will understand how to design scalable node architecture, get introduced to load balancing and high availability, and how to implement fault recovery mechanisms.

Final Project

In this module you will complete a final project based on the concepts of developing a web application for a Social Media Dashboard with user authentication, security based on JSON Web Tokens (JWT), and post management. The back-end is implemented using Node.js and Express, while the frontend utilizes HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Key features include user registration, login, post creation, and pagination. The design emphasizes simplicity and security through middleware and session management.