Does mongodb have a rest api?
Show
REST-like API vs DriversThe most common way of accessing data from your projects has traditionally been using drivers. MongoDB has drivers for many different programming languages. These allow you to call various functions, including covering the Create, Read, Update, Delete (CRUD) operations, from within your project in the language of your choice. We have many articles on how to get up and running using MongoDB drivers for your language of choice. So if you wish to use drivers, this is still a valid option. Below is a list of some existing tutorials using current drivers, potentially in your language/framework of choice:
However, there are times when you might not want to use a driver—for example, if it is a purely command-line based application or script, such as one that relies on cURL for sending REST or GraphQL requests via HTTP. Installing drivers and creating endpoints for your application that can make calls to the database can take time, and if you have a very simple use case, such as just CRUD, this extra overhead is unnecessary. This is where the new MongoDB Atlas Data API comes in. Using the new Atlas Data API from different languagesAs well as cURL, you can call the Data API from a variety of languages. All it needs is a way to make HTTP calls. In fact, in Atlas, we even give you code snippets in different languages, right from the UI, to get you started making calls to find a document.
Learn more about other operations, such as writing a document, you can make in our Data API documentation. SummaryIn this article, you have learned about how you can get started today with the new Atlas Data API, without needing to create your own endpoints. When you don’t require a full application, just the CRUD operations, the Atlas Data API gets you started with ease in just a few minutes. You can even get help from the Atlas UI to get you kickstarted with code snippets for your favourite language. FAQDoes MongoDB have a REST-like API?
Building a REST API with Express, Node, and MongoDBFollow along with this tutorial to add MongoDB Atlas as the data store for your applications, by creating NodeJS and Express Web REST API. The Project ArchitectureYou can explore the full project in the following GitHub repo:
Express allows us to create a back-end middle tier running Node.js server exposing REST API routes to our application. The Express.js server also connects to the MongoDB Atlas cluster via the Node.js Driver. If you wish to learn more about MongoDB and Node.js, read the following article. Finally, our front-end application will be written in React to use the REST API endpoints hosted on the Express.js server. The application is a Tinder-like application for the sample_airbnb database, containing information on various listings, available as part of the sample datasets you can load into the Atlas cluster. Users can swipe the listing cards to save or drop them and press the “like” button to add likes. Additionally, a double click will show details about the specific listing card presented. Project TreeHere are the main files in the project:
The “server” directory hosts the Express.js server application and all of its dependencies. The main files here are:
The “app/listings” directory is where the front-end React application code resides. The main files here are:
Setting Up the ProjectFirst, you will need to deploy an Atlas cluster. You can follow the Getting Started with Atlas guide to learn how to create a free Atlas account, create your first cluster, and get your connection string to the database. Once we have the Atlas cluster available, we can load the sample data by clicking [...] > “Load Sample Data.” When data is loaded, we are ready to clone the project stub branch:
Let’s go to the “server” directory of the project and install the needed packages:
Now, we are ready to connect our Express server to the MongoDB Atlas Cluster. Connecting to MongoDB AtlasOnce you locate your connection string, create a config.env file in the server directory. There, assign a new ATLAS_URI variable the
value of the connection string. Replace the
Next, open server/db/conn.js and add the implementation of the connectToServer function from the snippet below.
The main object this module exports out is the Adding REST API CRUD RoutesThe main Express.js part in this tutorial is to expose REST API routes to perform Read, Create, Update, and Delete operations for our listing application. This can be extended for more complex application business logic as your use case requires. The file that will host the routes is --- “server/routes/record.js”. It uses the Express Router feature:
Read RouteThe Read route will be used when the
The code sends back the result set as the API response. Create RouteThe Create route will record a “match” swipe in a “matches” collection. The body of this POST method will present a user
The save is done via collection.insertOne() method with the prebuilt “matchDocument.” You can also use InsertMany to insert multiple documents at once. Update RouteThe Update route updates the “likes” field on a listing object. This is done via a POST method:
The method will use the collection.updateOne() method with a $inc on the “like” field to increment the likes. Delete RouteWhenever a listing is dropped, we can delete it from the database so that it doesn’t appear anymore. This is done via the Delete route.
The route here includes the Now that we have everything in place, we can launch the server:
Setting Up the Front EndOur React application consists mainly of the App.js React file and class.
We will use some third-party modules, like the “react-tinder-card”, which will allow us to create the swiping tiles and graphics. Those will interact with the application functions to handle events like “onSwipe,” “handleLikeClick,” “showDetails,” and “componentWillMount” (to show the data on page load). Functions “onSwipe,” “handleLikeClick,” and “componentWillMount” will use the axios library to perform http REST API requests to our Express server. Those, in turn, will perform the needed action on our Atlas cluster. Now we can start the application in a new terminal (the server process must remain running):
Testing the ApplicationOnce all components are up and running, we can open the http://localhost:3000 URL and we should see our “LisTinder” application loaded:
Interaction with the tiles by swapping them will call our Express routes and perform application operations.
Atlas App Services Webhooks as Express ReplacementAtlas App Services, MongoDB’s mobile database and development cloud services, offer a robust and scalable replacement to the self-hosted Express Server. Creating an application is very easy with a generous free tier. In that application, you can create HTTP services with webhook endpoints to perform the same operations as the Express routes, without the need for maintaining and coding lots of boilerplate code. Those services are optimised for Atlas cluster access and will open a new world of opportunities like cloud functions, auth providers, GraphQL, and triggers. Let’s port one route to a webhook. We will start by creating an HTTP service within a newly created Realm application UI. Create HTTP ServiceNavigate to the “3d Party Services” section and click on the HTTP service type. Create Webhook for That ServiceAs part of defining the service, we need to configure the HTTP method this webhook will use and its associated function logic. The associated function code:
Now we can use the webhook URL directly in the React application. Add the following to the app class in App.js:
Wow, that's much easier and more scalable! SummaryUsing Express as a back-end middleware is a popular MongoDB stack design. Express is lightweight and approachable for JSON and REST API operations. MongoDB Atlas is a scalable and flexible document Database-as-a-Service and makes a perfect companion to Express in many stacks like MERN, MEAN, and MEVN. Having said that, Atlas App Services and webhooks are a robust replacement for the Express tier, moving the need to manage an Express server and its dependencies on-prem. FAQHow do I use MongoDB with Express JS?How do I create a REST API using node Express and Mongo?What is API in MongoDB?The MongoDB Query API is purpose-built to handle data of any structure. Quickly query, transform, and analyze data as your schema evolves.
Can I use postman for MongoDB?To explore the new MongoDB Data API, you can use the public Postman workspace provided by the MongoDB developer relations team.
Is MongoDB a HTTP?HTTP Console
MongoDB provides a simple http interface listing information of interest to administrators. This interface may be accessed at the port with numeric value 1000 more than the configured mongod port. The default port for the http interface is 28017.
Is MongoDB JSON based?The MongoDB-JSON connection
MongoDB was designed from its inception to be a database focused on delivering great development experience. JSON's ubiquity made it the obvious choice for representing data structures in MongoDB's document data model.
|