CSCI 446 Unit #10

Preparation:

You will need to download and install Postman. The textbook shows Postman as a Chrome extension, but Chrome extensions are deprecated (see http://blog.getpostman.com/2017/11/01/goodbye-postman-chrome-app/). You should be able to find the app at https://www.getpostman.com/apps.

You will need a way to do screen captures. I use ScreenHunter free, but there are other options. Post suggestions or questions on piazza.

Read Chapter 6 in Getting Mean. This chapter that covers a number of really important concepts - be sure to think about the ideas, which apply to many web frameworks, not just MEaN.

• Figure 6.1. Where does the API fit in the overall architecture?
• What does REST stand for? By the end of the chapter you should understand what it means if someone says they have a RESTful application/API.
• What does API stand for?
• Figure 6.2. Request-response is an important architecture/design pattern to understand.
• What does CRUD stand for?
• Table 6.1. An important part of web design is mapping URLs to actions.
• Table 6.2. Be sure to understand the request methods listed in the table. These will be used for any framework that follows the REST architecture (e.g., Rails, Laravel, etc.).
• Table 6.3 shows how the same verb (GET in this table) can have different actions depending on the parameters. Also take a close look at table 6.4.
• What are the 2 components of a standard REST response?
• What kind of data might be returned as a REST response? Note that we'll have to deal with these options in code.
• Take a quick look at table 6.5. I'm sure you'll recognize some of the status codes.
• Why do we want to keep the API code separate from the rest of the application? NOTE: as a result, we will have routes and controllers, with similar names (e.g., locations), in both the API and the application. This can get confusing, so be sure to reflect on the directory structure and purpose of each folder as you proceed through the tutorial. Don't just blindly follow the tutorial, you should be very clear about why we have these similar files. Post on piazza if it's not clear.
• Notice the mongoose query methods. It's important to understand that these do not start the query, they just determine what the query will be. This is a fairly common way of interacting with a database.
• What is a query string? How do we access parameters from the query string from within Express?
• Walk carefully through the rest of the chapter. You can skim or skip the information related to geospatial queries (6.3.3).