APIfied

Let any JavaScript function to be served as a Web API, in just one line!

Install

npm install atzori/apified

Getting Started

Save the following into a nodejs file (e.g., my_web_api.js):

function mycoolfunction(number, anotherNumber) {
	return number + anotherNumber
}

var apified = require('apified')
apified(mycoolfunction) // your API is online

// or, if you prefer one-line, just use the following instead:
//require('apified')(mycoolfunction)

Then run node my_web_apy.js and bang... your Web API server is up and running!

Checkout the service at http://localhost:3000/mycoolfunction?number=5&anotheNumber=9 and get the valid JSON {"result":"14"}.

Features

apified has a lot of cool features.

• support all HTTP verbs (including GET and POST)
• function argument names are recognized and used as get parameter names
• supports both named and anonymous functions
• works with async functions (both callback-based and thenable/promises): callbacks are recognized when the last argument of the function is named callback
• if the output is an object, it will be returned as valid JSON, otherwise a {"result": FUNCTION_RESULT} JSON is returned
• in case of errors (such as exceptions) an {"error":ERROR_DESCRIPTION_STRING} is returned with HTTP 400
• it handles argument numbers transparently (converting strings to numbers when appropriate).
• supports Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) so the service can also be queried easily from the browser.
• it even works with sync functions that do not return any value, returing their stdout (console.log) instead
• parallel execution using multiple workers (can be disabled)

Options

apified(function, [options])

where options may be a string the set the name of the service (overriding the default which is equal to the name of the function). Also useful for anonymous functions or deep paths such as my/cool/service.

Alternatively it can be an object with the following optional parameters:

• name: the path of the service (default: function name)
• port: the port used by the service (default: the value in the environment variable PORT, or 3000 if unsed)
• cors: set/unset CORS (default: true)
• workers: the number of workers, either an integer >=1 or a boolean; false means one worker, true set the number of workers twice the number of processors (default: true)
• cache: set/unset the cache (default: false); set a simple in-memory cache (note: there is a different cache for each worker)

Development

npm run devstart 	# run the test example (running the server)
npm test 			# execute a GET request using curl