How to Build a Structured Node.js CRUD API Using Express and MySQL

A tutorial published on DEV Community walks developers through building a REST API using Node.js, Express, and MySQL with a focus on maintainable code structure. The guide organizes responsibilities across separate layers — routing, controllers, models, validation, and error handling — rather than mixing them within individual route handlers. It uses plain JavaScript, prepared queries, a shared connection pool, and a centralized error response format to ensure consistency across endpoints. The API covers five standard product endpoints using GET, POST, PATCH, and DELETE HTTP methods, with PATCH chosen specifically to support partial updates. The tutorial targets developers who find simple CRUD setups difficult to scale when adding features like authentication, pagination, or additional team members.