We'll dive into the implementation of the "DELETE POST BY ID" route within the postsRoutes.js file. This route allows clients to delete a specific post by providing its unique ID.

Route Definition

The code below defines the "DELETE POST BY ID" route using router.delete():

router.delete("/post/:id", async (req, res, next) => { ... }

This route handles HTTP DELETE requests with a parameterized :id in the route path. The :id parameter is used to identify the post to be deleted. We don't need extra middleware like dataValidation as we get all the necessary information from the URL parameter.

Extracting the Post ID

We extract the post ID from the request parameters using req.params.id:

const postId = req.params.id;

This line captures the :id value from the URL, allowing us to work with it in the subsequent code.

Delete the Post

Here's how we delete the post:

const data = await readData();

const postIndex = data.findIndex((post) => post.id === postId);

if (postIndex === -1) {
  return res.status(404).json({ error: "Post not found" });
}

data.splice(postIndex, 1);

await fs.writeFile("./database/posts.json", JSON.stringify(data));

• We begin by reading the existing data from the JSON file using the asynchronous readData function, as explained earlier.
• We find the index of the post to delete in the data array by comparing post IDs.
• If the post is not found (i.e., postIndex === -1), we return a 404 (Not Found) response with an error message.
• Using the splice method, we remove the post data from the data array. The postIndex variable determines the position of the post to delete.
• The updated data array, with the post removed, is then written back to the JSON file to save the changes made during the deletion.

Sending a Response

A JSON response with a status code of 200 (OK) is sent to the client, indicating a successful deletion. The response includes a message confirming that the post was deleted successfully:

res.status(200).json({ message: "Post deleted successfully" });

Error Handling

We wrap the route code in a try-catch block to handle potential errors during data retrieval or request processing. Any errors that occur are logged to the console for debugging purposes:

try {
  // ... (code for retrieving and processing data)
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error.message);
}

Complete code of the postsRoutes.js file at this step

const express = require("express");
const fs = require("fs/promises");
const validatePostData = require("../middlewares/validateData");

const router = express.Router();

// Function to read data from the JSON file
async function readData() {
  try {
    // Read the contents of the `posts.json` file
    const data = await fs.readFile("./database/posts.json");
    // Parse the JSON data into a JavaScript object
    return JSON.parse(data);
  } catch (error) {
    // If an error occurs during reading or parsing, throw the error
    throw error;
  }
}

// GET ALL POSTS
router.get("/", async (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    // Call the `readData` function to retrieve the list of posts
    const data = await readData();
    // Send the retrieved data as the response
    res.status(200).send(data);
  } catch (error) {
    // If an error occurs during data retrieval or sending the response
    console.error(error.message); // Log the error to the console for debugging
  }
});

// GET POST BY ID
router.get("/post/:id", async (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    // Extract the post ID from the request parameters
    const postId = req.params.id;
    // Read data from the JSON file
    const data = await readData();

    // Find the post with the matching ID
    const post = data.find((post) => post.id === postId);

    // If the post is not found, send a 404 response
    if (!post) {
      res.status(404).json({ error: "Post not found" });
    } else {
      // If the post is found, send it as the response
      res.status(200).send(post);
    }
  } catch (error) {
    // Handle errors by logging them and sending an error response
    console.error(error.message);
  }
});

// CREATE POST
router.post("/", validatePostData, async (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    const newPost = {
      id: Date.now().toString(), // Generate a unique ID for the new post
      username: req.body.username,
      postTitle: req.body.postTitle,
      postContent: req.body.postContent,
    };

    // Read the existing data
    const data = await readData();

    // Add the new post to the data
    data.push(newPost);

    // Write the updated data back to the JSON file
    await fs.writeFile("./database/posts.json", JSON.stringify(data));

    // Send a success response with the new post
    res.status(201).json(newPost);
  } catch (error) {
    // Handle errors by logging them to the console
    console.error(error.message);
  }
});

// UPDATE POST BY ID
router.put("/post/:id", validatePostData, async (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    // Extract the post ID from the request parameters
    const postId = req.params.id;
    // Extract the updated data from the request body
    const updatedData = {
      username: req.body.username,
      postTitle: req.body.postTitle,
      postContent: req.body.postContent,
    };

    // Read the existing data
    const data = await readData();

    // Find the index of the post with the specified ID in the data array
    const postIndex = data.findIndex((post) => post.id === postId);

    // If the post with the specified ID doesn't exist, return a 404 error
    if (postIndex === -1) {
      return res.status(404).json({ error: "Post not found" });
    }

    // Update the post data with the new data using spread syntax
    data[postIndex] = {
      ...data[postIndex], // Keep existing data
      ...updatedData, // Apply updated data
    };

    // Write the updated data back
    await fs.writeFile("./database/posts.json", JSON.stringify(data));

    // Send a success response with the updated post
    res.status(200).json(data[postIndex]);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error.message);
    next(error);
  }
});

// DELETE POST BY ID
router.delete("/post/:id", async (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    // Extract the post ID from the request parameters
    const postId = req.params.id;

    // Read the existing data
    const data = await readData();

    // Find the index of the post with the specified ID in the data array
    const postIndex = data.findIndex((post) => post.id === postId);

    // If the post with the specified ID doesn't exist, return a 404 error
    if (postIndex === -1) {
      return res.status(404).json({ error: "Post not found" });
    }

    // Remove the post from the data array using `splice`
    data.splice(postIndex, 1);

    // Write the updated data back to the data source (e.g., a JSON file)
    await fs.writeFile("./database/posts.json", JSON.stringify(data));

    // Send a success response with the JSON response indicating successful deletion
    res.status(200).json({ message: "Post deleted successfully" });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error.message);
    next(error);
  }
});

module.exports = router;