To start creating a CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) with NodeJS and MongoDB, the first thing we need to do is set up our development environment. This chapter will guide you step-by-step through the process.
NodeJS Installation
NodeJS is a JavaScript runtime platform that allows us to build scalable web applications. To install NodeJS, go to the official NodeJS website (https://nodejs.org) and download the latest version. Installation is pretty straightforward, just follow the on-screen instructions.
MongoDB Installation
MongoDB is a document-oriented NoSQL database. To install MongoDB, go to the official MongoDB website (https://www.mongodb.com) and download the latest version. During installation, be sure to select the option to install MongoDB as a service, which will allow MongoDB to start automatically when you start your computer.
Installing Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is a source code editor developed by Microsoft. It is one of the most popular code editors and is extremely useful for developing NodeJS applications. You can download Visual Studio Code from the official website (https://code.visualstudio.com).
Project Configuration
Once you have installed NodeJS, MongoDB and Visual Studio Code, the next step is to configure your project. First, create a new folder for your project. You can do this using the mkdir command in the terminal:
$ mkdir my-crud-project
$ cd my-crud-project
Next, initialize a new NodeJS project using the npm init command. This command will create a new package.json file, which is used to manage your project's dependencies.
$ npm init -y
Installing Dependencies
For our CRUD project, we will need some dependencies. The first is Express, which is a framework for building web applications in NodeJS. You can install Express using the npm install command:
$ npm install express
The next dependency is Mongoose, which is a library for working with MongoDB in NodeJS. You can install Mongoose using the npm install command:
$ npm install mongoose
MongoDB Configuration
After installing Mongoose, we need to configure MongoDB. First, we need to start the MongoDB service. You can do this using the mongod command in the terminal:
$ mongod
Next, we need to connect Mongoose to MongoDB. This can be done by adding the following code to your main project file (usually index.js):
const mongoose = require('mongoose');
mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost:27017/my-crud-project', {useNewUrlParser: true, useUnifiedTopology: true});
This code will connect Mongoose to MongoDB running on your local machine on port 27017.
Conclusion
With that, you have successfully configured the development environment to create a CRUD with NodeJS and MongoDB. In the next chapter, we'll start building the CRUD application itself.
