backend-template-martinherranzc

Description

Hello world! I'm Claudio Martin Herranz and here i present you a template that can help developing for newcomers. It's my first package so i would love comments and suggestions. This project provides a well-structured Node.js backend template employing Express and JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for authentication. It offers a solid foundation for building secure and scalable RESTful APIs.

Features

• Express Framework: Utilizes Express for efficient routing, middleware handling, and server management.
• JWT Authentication: Implements JWT for secure user authentication and authorization.
• Hexagonal Architecture: Implements hexagonal architecture to promote separation of concerns and enhance testability.
• Modular Structure: Encourages organized code with potential separation for controllers, models, and services (depending on project complexity).
• Testing: Supports unit testing with Vitest (or your preferred testing framework).
• Swagger: Documents your API.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (version 14 or higher) and npm (or yarn) installed. Verify with:

  node -v
  npm -v  # or yarn -v

Installation

To install the package, use the following command:

npm install backend-template-martinherranzc
node node_modules/backend-template-martinherranzc/copy-structure.js
npm install

Usage

Once installed, you can start using the backend template in your project. Configure your application as needed, following the structure and features provided in this template.

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the project root. This file holds sensitive information, such as your JWT secret key. You can use a library like dotenv to access these variables. Example:

JWT_SECRET=your_strong_jwt_secret_key
# Other environment variables (e.g., database connection details)

Important: Do not commit your .env file to version control. Configure your IDE to ignore this file.

Start the Server

npm start  # or yarn start

This will start the server, typically listening on port 3000 (default for Express). Check your terminal logs to confirm the server is running.

Usage (Example)

User Registration

• Create an API endpoint (usually a POST request) to handle user registration.
• Upon successful registration, generate a JWT token using the jsonwebtoken library and the secret key from your .env file.
• Send the JWT token back to the client in the response.

User Login

• Create a login endpoint.
• Validate user credentials against your data store (e.g., a database).
• If valid, generate a JWT token as in registration.

Protected Endpoints

• Use middleware (e.g., express-jwt) to protect routes that require authentication.
• Decode the JWT token from the client's request headers to verify user identity and authorization.

Running Tests

Test Configuration

Refer to the Vitest documentation for setup and test writing guidelines. Place test files in a __tests__ directory and use Vitest syntax.

Run Tests

npm test  # or yarn test

Development

Feel free to customize the project structure and add features as needed. Consider adding error handling, logging, and database integration for a fully functional backend API.

License

This project is licensed under the ISC License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Additional Notes

• Replace your_strong_jwt_secret_key in the .env example with a long, random, and cryptographically secure key for production use.
• Securely store your JWT secret key and other sensitive information.
• Consider using environment variables for sensitive configuration details.
• This template is adaptable, so explore best practices for secure and robust RESTful APIs with Node.js and Express.