How to Build a Microservices Architecture with NodeJS

Microservices architecture allows us to break down complex applications into smaller, independently deployable services. Node.js, with its non-blocking I/O and event-driven nature, is an excellent choice for building microservices.

Microservices architecture can involve designing the application as a collection of loosely coupled services. Each service is independent, deployable, and communicates over the network. This article will guide you through creating a microservices architecture using NodeJS.

Prerequisites

• Node.js and JavaScript
• RESTful APIs.
• SQL/NOSQL

Approach

We can build the microservices architecture with NodeJS. We will create a basic microservice architecture for Users. where we can create and access the list of users. we are going to do this all:

• Identify and define the individual services.
• Set up the environment for the each services
• Implement the each service independently.
• Set up the API Gateway to route the requests to the appropriate services.
• Ensure communication between the services using REST APIs.

Steps to Build Microservices Architecture with NodeJS

We will create the user-service that will show the small architecture of user management. where we can create a user and that will store in the mongodb database and we can access all the users.

Step 1: Initialize the Project

We can initialize the project using below command.

mkdir user-service
cd user-service
npm init -y

Step 2: Install the Required Dependencies

The user service required dependencies are express, mongoose and body-parser of the application. Use the following command

npm install express mongoose body-parser

Project Structure

Updated dependencies

"dependencies": {
    "express": "^4.19.2",
    "mongoose": "^8.4.4"
  }

Example: Create the files for the schema and the controller functions.

//models / userModel.js
const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const userSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
    name: {
        type: String,
        required: true
    },
    email: {
        type: String,
        required: true,
        unique: true
    }
});

const User = mongoose.model('User', userSchema);

module.exports = User;

// controllers/userController.js
const User = require('../models/userModel');

exports.createUser = async (req, res) => {
    try {
        const user = new User(req.body);
        await user.save();
        res.status(201).send(user);
    } catch (error) {
        res.status(400).send(error);
    }
};

exports.getUsers = async (req, res) => {
    try {
        const users = await User.find();
        res.status(200).send(users);
    } catch (error) {
        res.status(500).send(error);
    }
};

//index.js

const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const userController = require('./controllers/userController');

const app = express();
app.use(bodyParser.json());

mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost:27017/users',
    { useNewUrlParser: true, useUnifiedTopology: true });

app.post('/users', userController.createUser);
app.get('/users', userController.getUsers);

app.listen(3000, () => {
    console.log('User service running on port 3000');
});

Run the application using the following command

npm run start 

Step 3: Testing the user-service

• Create the User
• Method: POST
• paste the URL in the postman

 http://localhost:3000/users

Output

• Get All the Users
• Method: GET
• paste the URL in the postman

http://localhost:300/users

Output: