About the Bitty Baking API
I’ve been learning a lot about APIs recently, and I thought it would be fun to build and test my own API—so I did!
The Bitty Baking API is built with Node, Express, and MySQL. It allows you to check the status of the API, view all menu items at the bakery, view a specific menu item, read a list of all orders, and create, read, update, and delete a single order. There are 5 menu items to choose from: chocolate chip cookie, sugar cookie, lemon cookie, chocolate cupcake, or vanilla cupcake. To place an order, you need to provide a customer name and menu item. There’s more information in the documentation, which you can check out on GitHub.
What I learned
Building my own API from scratch gave me a much deeper understanding about what goes into an API. I’ve used APIs in my previous projects but when designing the Bitty Baking API, I had to think critically about the underlying database structure, the queries I wanted to be able to run, the endpoints needed to run those queries, and the dependencies for those queries.
And then, from the user perspective, I had to determine what data to send back to the user for successful requests and how to write useful error messages for the unsuccessful ones. I also had to determine the best status code to send with each response. For the documentation, I had to write up clear instructions for how to set up and use the API.
Testing with Postman
Once I’d written the API, I tested it with Postman. I had used Postman a bit in the past, but this project gave me a much better understanding of its potential. And it’s weirdly fun to use—I’m definitely eager to learn more!
I’ve included a video of my API testing below, and I’ve posted the code and documentation for the Bitty Baking API and Postman tests on GitHub. Feel free to check them out!
