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Hello again, you're in the home stretch.

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Only two more projects to go.

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In fact, the projects in this unit and

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the next run will stretch you to
create a complete web application.

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With a server side API and
a React front end.

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In this unit,
you'll learn how to create a REST API.

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REST is a common method for
one computer to communicate with another.

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A REST API is basically a server-side
web application that receives and

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transmits information from and
to a browser or another computer.

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A REST API doesn't send out webpages,
instead, it sends out and

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receives information and processes that
input to store data or perform a task.

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Like completing an online order or
returning the results of a search.

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Creating a REST API is a common task and
an important skill for

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a full stack developer to master.

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In this project you'll create an API
to administer a school database.

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Using the API, users can interact with the
database by retrieving a list of courses,

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as well as adding, updating, and
deleting course information.

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In this project, which is the first of
two projects, you'll create a REST API.

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Now there's not much to
see with this project,

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since you're creating the backend that
accepts requests and sends back responses.

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However, you'll do a lot of
programming to make this work.

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To test that your API is working
correctly, you'll use a handy program

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called Postman that lets you send
different types of requests.

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Like a GET request,
a POST request, or a PUT request.

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Then you'll be able to
see how the API responds.

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We supply a collection of requests
that you can load into Postman.

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To send a request, you select
it from the list on the left and

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then click the Send button You can see

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that the returned information is JSON or
JavaScript Object Notation.

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For example, the Get Courses route,
pictured here,

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provides a complete listing
of courses from the database.

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While the Get Course route returns
data on just a single course.

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You'll add authentication to this app as
well, and contest what happens when a user

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tries to access data without logging in,
And after they've logged in.

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This is the beginning of
a full stack application.

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Have fun with it.