bexnewton=# \c backend;

A roundup of my fifth through seventh week in a Northcoders bootcamp.

During this block we learned how to create a http server, using the inbuilt Node library, and we learned how to create the same using express app, and Node.js.

Creating a server really excited me, within a few hours we were making requests to our servers and viewing them via insomnia. We would then build on this knowledge of restful API’s to use express.js which was a lot easier to work with.

One thing that was truly monumental to my own learning journey happened during the backend weeks. We learned about the Model View Controller pattern (MVC). The MVC is an architectural pattern which separates an application into three main parts. The model, the view and the controller. Thus enabling a “separation of concerns.”

The Model: Manages data and logic.

The View: Handles layout and display.

The Controller: Routes commands to the Model and View.

The user, uses the Controller which manipulates the Model, which updates the View which is what the user will see.

If this is your first time hearing about the MVC here is a little extra reading with a handy diagram.

At the end of the first week we were introduced to Structured Query Language (SQL) databases we would use PostgreSQL. At this point I was really enjoying the Backend section of the bootcamp, it was structured, there were rules, everything seemed a little clearer, as long as you could seed your data and drop the correct database.

Now we know how to GET, POST, PATCH & DELETE whilst catching errors and avoiding SQL injection we need to test. Up until this part of the course we have been using unit testing. Now we will be learning integration testing, an integration test makes a request to the server and tests the response is correct. For our integration testing we used Supertest.

This was an overwhelming mindset shift. I was very lucky to be part of a wonderful cohort which really pulled together at this point, we could all feel the pace pick up and we each relied on one another for moral support and to help guide one another through.

The culmination of the backend block was to use this knowledge to create a working Backend of a project, complete with testing. The backend PSQL DB would then be hosted to heroku with an express server. This would be my first time hosting my work.