Building Scalable REST APIs with Node.js and TypeScript

Building Scalable REST APIs with Node.js and TypeScript

Learn how to build production-ready REST APIs using modern best practices with Node.js, Express, and TypeScript.

Project Setup

Let's start by setting up a solid TypeScript project structure.

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TypeScript Configuration

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Project Structure

src/
├── config/
│   └── database.ts
├── controllers/
│   └── user.controller.ts
├── middleware/
│   ├── auth.middleware.ts
│   ├── error.middleware.ts
│   └── validate.middleware.ts
├── models/
│   └── user.model.ts
├── routes/
│   └── user.routes.ts
├── services/
│   └── user.service.ts
├── types/
│   └── express.d.ts
├── utils/
│   ├── ApiError.ts
│   └── catchAsync.ts
└── app.ts

Setting Up Express

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Custom Error Handling

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Async Error Handling

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Request Validation

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Controller Pattern

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Service Layer

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Routes

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Best Practices Summary

1. ✅ Use TypeScript for type safety
2. ✅ Layered architecture (routes → controllers → services → models)
3. ✅ Centralized error handling
4. ✅ Request validation with Joi or Zod
5. ✅ Security middleware (helmet, cors, rate limiting)
6. ✅ Proper logging with Morgan or Winston
7. ✅ Environment variables with dotenv
8. ✅ API versioning (/api/v1/)
9. ✅ Consistent response format
10. ✅ Authentication & authorization

Conclusion

This architecture provides a solid foundation for building scalable REST APIs. It's maintainable, testable, and follows industry best practices.

Start building your next API with confidence! 🚀