To-Do List API - Base Project

Created by Fabricio Braga
Last update: Tue 1 Apr 2025

Project Description

This is a reference base project for students of Hack the Gap company, Course 6: Developing Back-End Apps with Node.js and Express. It provides a foundation for building a To-Do List API with Node.js HTTP server, demonstrating:

• Basic server setup
• REST API principles
• In-memory data management
• Modular code organization
• Request handling

Features

• CRUD operations for todo items
• JSON API responses
• Error handling
• Sample data seeding
• Clean code structure

Project Structure

todo-list-api/
├── models/
│   └── TodoList.js    # TodoList class implementation
├── server.js          # Main server file
├── .gitignore         # Git ignore rules
└── README.md          # This file

Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18.x or higher
• npm or yarn

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/hackthegap/base-todo-list.git
   cd base-todo-list

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Start the server:

   npm start

   The server will start on http://localhost:3000

API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/todos	Get all todo items
GET	/todos/:id	Get a specific todo item
POST	/todos	Create a new todo item

Example Requests

Get all todos:

curl http://localhost:3000/todos

Get specific todo:

curl http://localhost:3000/todos/1

Create new todo:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"task":"Learn Express"}' http://localhost:3000/todos

Next Steps for Students

1. Implement the remaining CRUD operations (PUT/PATCH, DELETE)
2. Add data persistence (file system or database)
3. Implement Express.js version
4. Add input validation
5. Create frontend interface

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Happy Coding! 🚀