Node.js & API Architecture
Design, build and operate an HTTP API that survives its first real traffic.
Mara Velasco
Principal engineer · 12 years shipping web platforms
- Testing
- APIs
- Node.js
What you will be able to do
- Structure a Node service that stays navigable as it grows
- Design error responses clients can actually handle
- Implement session and token auth without hand-rolled crypto
- Add tracing, metrics and structured logs that pay off in incidents
- Handle backpressure, timeouts and partial failure deliberately
About this course
From request lifecycle to production incident: how to lay out a Node service, model errors so clients can act on them, handle authentication without inventing your own crypto, and instrument the thing so that when it breaks at 3am you can tell why. Built around one service that grows across the course.
Curriculum
3 sections · 9 lessons
- 1The request lifecycle, preciselySockets, the event loop, and where your handler actually runs.Preview23 min
- 2Layering without ceremonyRoutes, services, repositories — and when that is too much.18 min
- 3Validation at the edgeOne schema, reused for parsing, types and documentation.16 min
Before you start
- Comfortable with JavaScript or TypeScript
- Have built at least one HTTP endpoint before
Student reviews
4.3 from 6
Nadia Petrova
19 Aug 2026Finally, the why and not just the how
I have taken four courses on this topic and this is the first one that explained the underlying model instead of walking me through syntax. The section on validation alone changed how I work.
28 found this helpful
Ryan Whitfield
19 Aug 2026The quiz actually taught me something
I got two questions wrong and the explanations made the reason obvious immediately. That is a rarer thing than it should be.
23 found this helpful
Léo Fontaine
19 Aug 2026Changed how my team works
I ran the middle section as a lunch-and-learn series with my team. We have since adopted three of the practices as defaults. Rare for a course to have that effect.
13 found this helpful
Hana Kimura
19 Aug 2026Great foundation, wanted more on the advanced end
The fundamentals are covered better than anywhere else I have found. I would happily pay again for a follow-up that goes deeper into the last module.
8 found this helpful
Amara Diallo
19 Aug 2026Solid content, pacing is uneven
The first and last modules are outstanding. The middle one felt rushed relative to how important it is. Still recommend it, with that caveat.
18 found this helpful
Daniel Osei
19 Aug 2026Excellent, though it moves quickly
Superb content and no filler at all. I did have to rewatch two lessons at 0.75x. If you are brand new to the subject, budget extra time for the middle section.
12 found this helpful