NC News API Project

Project Description

The NC News API is designed to allow programmatic access to application data and is intended to mimic the functionality of real-world backend services like Reddit. Built using Node.js and Express.js, and interacting with a PostgreSQL (PSQL) database, this API allows users to retrieve articles, comments, topics, and user information. Additionally, it supports filtering, sorting, and updating article data, along with managing comments.

For API testing, SuperTest was used in conjunction with Jest. SuperTest, a robust testing library tailored for evaluating REST APIs built with frameworks like Express.js, seamlessly integrates with Jest to provide comprehensive testing capabilities.

You can find the hosted version of the NC News API Project here.

API Endpoints and Functionality

1. GET /api/topics: Responds with an array of topics.
2. GET /api: Responds with an array of available endpoints.
3. GET /api/articles/:article_id: Responds with a single article by article_id.
4. GET /api/articles: Responds with an array of articles.
5. GET /api/articles/:article_id/comments: Responds with an array of comments by article_id.
6. POST /api/articles/:article_id/comments: Adds a comment to an article by article_id.
7. PATCH /api/articles/:article_id: Updates an article by article_id.
8. DELETE /api/comments/:comment_id: Deletes a comment by comment_id.
9. GET /api/users: Responds with an array of users.
10. GET /api/articles (Queries): Allows articles to be filtered and sorted.
11. GET /api/articles/:article_id (comment count): Adds a comment count to the response when retrieving a single article.

Getting Started

To get started with the Northcoders News API locally, follow these steps:

1. Clone the GitHub repository

git clone https://github.com/AnnaTas77/nc-news-backend-project

2. Install project dependencies

npm install

3. Environment Variables Configuration

In order to successfully connect to the two databases locally, please make sure to set the following environment variables:

1. Create a new file in the root directory and name it ".env.development".
2. In the ".env.development" file add the following line: "PGDATABASE=nc_news" and save the file.
3. Create another new file in the root directory and name it ".env.test".
4. In the ".env.test" file add the following line: "PGDATABASE=nc_news_test" and save the file.
5. Add these two files as ".env.*" to the ".gitignore" file. Set up the local database:

4. Setup the database

npm run setup-dbs

5. Seed the database

npm run seed

6. To run the test suite using Jest

npm test

Feel free to explore the API's endpoints, experiment with the functionality, and integrate it into your own projects.