**Course Title:** API Development: Design, Implementation, and Best Practices **Section Title:** Building RESTful APIs **Topic:** Setting up a development environment (Node.js, Express, or Flask). **Objective:** By the end of this topic, you will be able to set up a development environment using Node.js, Express, or Flask and create a basic RESTful API. **Why is a development environment important?** A development environment is crucial for building, testing, and deploying APIs. It provides a controlled space for developers to write, run, and debug their code without affecting the production environment. In this topic, we will explore three popular frameworks for building RESTful APIs: Node.js, Express, and Flask. ### Setting up Node.js and Express Node.js is a JavaScript runtime that allows developers to run JavaScript on the server-side. Express is a popular Node.js framework that provides a flexible and modular way to build web applications and APIs. **Step 1: Install Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager)** To set up Node.js, download the latest version from the official website: <https://nodejs.org/en/download/> **Step 2: Create a new Node.js project** Open a terminal or command prompt and create a new directory for your project. Navigate to the directory and run the following command to initialize a new Node.js project: ```bash npm init ``` **Step 3: Install Express** Install Express using npm: ```bash npm install express ``` **Step 4: Create a basic Express app** Create a new file called `app.js` and add the following code: ```javascript const express = require('express'); const app = express(); app.get('/hello', (req, res) => { res.send('Hello World!'); }); app.listen(3000, () => { console.log('Server started on port 3000'); }); ``` **Step 5: Run the app** Run the app using the following command: ```bash node app.js ``` Open a web browser and navigate to `http://localhost:3000/hello` to see the "Hello World!" message. ### Setting up Flask Flask is a popular Python framework that provides a lightweight and flexible way to build web applications and APIs. **Step 1: Install Python and pip (Python Package Manager)** To set up Python, download the latest version from the official website: <https://www.python.org/downloads/> **Step 2: Create a new Flask project** Open a terminal or command prompt and create a new directory for your project. Navigate to the directory and run the following command to initialize a new Flask project: ```bash pip install flask ``` **Step 3: Create a basic Flask app** Create a new file called `app.py` and add the following code: ```python from flask import Flask app = Flask(__name__) @app.route('/hello') def hello_world(): return 'Hello World!' if __name__ == '__main__': app.run() ``` **Step 4: Run the app** Run the app using the following command: ```bash python app.py ``` Open a web browser and navigate to `http://localhost:5000/hello` to see the "Hello World!" message. ### Key concepts and takeaways * A development environment is crucial for building, testing, and deploying APIs. * Node.js and Flask are popular frameworks for building RESTful APIs. * Express is a popular Node.js framework that provides a flexible and modular way to build web applications and APIs. * Flask is a lightweight and flexible Python framework for building web applications and APIs. * Setting up a development environment involves installing the necessary tools, creating a new project, and writing code. ### Practical exercise * Create a new Node.js project using Express and add a new route that responds to a GET request. * Create a new Flask project and add a new route that responds to a GET request. * Run the apps and test the routes using a web browser or tool like Postman. **Leave a comment/ask for help:** If you have any questions or need help with setting up your development environment, please leave a comment below. **Next topic:** Implementing CRUD operations: Create, Read, Update, Delete.