Node.js Express REST API Best Practices

Building Robust REST APIs

Creating a production-ready REST API requires following established patterns and best practices.

Project Structure

src/
  ├── controllers/
  ├── models/
  ├── routes/
  ├── middleware/
  ├── utils/
  └── app.js

Error Handling Middleware

// middleware/errorHandler.js
const errorHandler = (err, req, res, next) => {
  console.error(err.stack);
  
  const statusCode = err.statusCode || 500;
  const message = err.message || 'Internal Server Error';
  
  res.status(statusCode).json({
    error: message,
    ...(process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' && { stack: err.stack })
  });
};

module.exports = errorHandler;

Async Error Handling

const asyncHandler = (fn) => (req, res, next) => {
  Promise.resolve(fn(req, res, next)).catch(next);
};

// Usage
router.get('/users', asyncHandler(async (req, res) => {
  const users = await User.findAll();
  res.json(users);
}));

Request Validation

const { body, validationResult } = require('express-validator');

router.post('/users',
  body('email').isEmail(),
  body('password').isLength({ min: 6 }),
  async (req, res) => {
    const errors = validationResult(req);
    if (!errors.isEmpty()) {
      return res.status(400).json({ errors: errors.array() });
    }
    // Process request
  }
);

Security Best Practices

• Use helmet for security headers
• Implement rate limiting
• Validate and sanitize all inputs
• Use environment variables for secrets
• Enable CORS properly
• Implement proper authentication/authorization

Conclusion

Following these best practices will help you build scalable, maintainable, and secure REST APIs with Node.js and Express.