APIs

Express APIs with Validation & Versioning

Design HTTP handlers with clear contracts, validation, and pragmatic versioning for evolving teams.

Cover art for Express APIs with Validation & Versioning

MYR 1,450 · 7 weeks · hybrid async

Mentor-async with weekly sync hybrid

Outline

You will implement REST handlers with schema-first validation, consistent error envelopes, and route maps that survive refactors. Labs include breaking-change drills and documentation that downstream consumers can trust.

Inclusions

  • OpenAPI sketches tied to route files
  • Zod-style validation patterns
  • Error shape that stays stable across releases
  • Pagination and filtering without N+1 traps
  • Integration tests against ephemeral databases
  • Middleware ordering clinic with diagrams
  • Release checklist for route deprecations

Outcomes

  1. Publish a versioned API with documented sunset dates
  2. Ship failing tests before breaking consumers
  3. Run a peer review using the institute rubric

Participant notes

“The deprecation drill caught a mistake I used to make on every release — specific to the Express APIs validation track.”
— Li Wei · Agency pod · Google

Straight answers

Which HTTP frameworks?
Express is the reference; concepts map to Fastify or Nest if your workplace uses them.
Will we deploy publicly?
You deploy to a private preview URL; public production hardening is covered conceptually only.
Limitations?
GraphQL and gRPC are out of scope; REST-first keeps the cohort aligned.