LoopBack Overview

In this article, we’ll see LoopBack Overview.

Building robust and scalable APIs is a fundamental requirement for modern web and mobile applications. We will explore the unique aspects and benefits of LoopBack.js and discover why it has become a preferred choice for building APIs.

What is LoopBack

LoopBack is an open-source Node.js framework that enables you to quickly create APIs and microservices composed from backend systems such as databases and SOAP or REST services.

LoopBack is highly extensible, has out-of-the-box support for TypeScript, and is built on top of Express.  It has good compatibility with different REST services and different varieties of databases that cover MySQL, MongoDB, Oracle, Postgres, and more.

Features of LoopBack :

  1. Rapid API Development: It focuses on speeding up API development by providing a set of code generation tools and a powerful command-line interface (CLI). With LoopBack’s CLI, developers can quickly scaffold models, controllers, and routes, reducing the time spent on repetitive tasks. The framework’s intuitive command-line interface makes it easy to generate boilerplate code, enabling developers to focus on implementing business logic rather than starting from scratch.
  2. Strong Model-Driven Approach: It follows a model-driven approach to API development. The framework allows developers to define models with various data sources such as relational databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL), NoSQL databases (MongoDB, Couchbase), REST APIs, and more. This flexibility empowers developers to integrate multiple data sources seamlessly and build APIs that interact with different types of databases.
  3. Powerful ORM and Connector Support: It incorporates a powerful Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) layer called “LoopBack DataSource Juggler,” which provides a unified API for data manipulation and retrieval across various data sources. The framework offers a wide range of connectors, allowing developers to interact with different databases effortlessly. From MySQL and MongoDB to Oracle and REST APIs, It has connectors for nearly every popular data source, making integration a breeze.
  4. Built-in Authentication and Authorization: Security is a paramount concern in API development. It simplifies the implementation of authentication and authorization mechanisms by offering built-in support for various authentication providers like OAuth, JWT, and LDAP. The framework’s extensible User model and role-based access control (RBAC) system enable developers to secure APIs with ease, ensuring that only authorized users can access protected resources.
  5. Expressive API Composition: It leverages Express.js, a popular web framework for Node.js, as its underlying foundation. This compatibility allows developers to take advantage of Express.js middleware and features, making it easy to enhance and customize API behavior. LoopBack.js provides a simple way to compose APIs by combining reusable components and middleware, giving developers the flexibility to create APIs that suit their specific requirements.
  6. Remote Method Invocation (RMI): It simplifies remote method invocation by automatically generating RESTful endpoints for models and exposing them via a unified API explorer. Developers can easily invoke remote methods on models, perform CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations, and leverage advanced querying capabilities. This feature streamlines API consumption and allows clients to interact with the API using a well-documented and intuitive interface.
  7. Scalability and Extensibility: It is designed to handle scalable and high-performance APIs. With its flexible architecture and support for clustering, developers can horizontally scale their APIs to meet increasing traffic demands. Additionally, the framework’s extensibility enables developers to create custom plugins and middleware, enhancing the functionality and adapting it to specific project requirements.
  8. Robust Community Support: It benefits from a vibrant and active community of developers. The framework has a wide range of plugins and extensions contributed by the community, allowing developers to leverage existing solutions and accelerate development. The community actively maintains and updates the framework, ensuring that it stays relevant to the latest industry standards and best practices.

Installation :

You must have already installed Node.js (v10 or later)

1). Run the “npm i -g @loopback/cli” command in your terminal to Install LoopBack 4 CLI globally

2). Now, Loopback CLI is installed. Let’s create a new project by running the “lb4 app” command in your terminal.
During the process, it will prompt some answers. enter the answer as following

? Project name: getting-started
? Project description: Getting started tutorial
? Project root directory: (getting-started)
? Application class name: StarterApplication
? Select features to enable in the project:
❯◉ Enable eslint: add a linter with pre-configured lint rules
◉ Enable prettier: install prettier to format code conforming to rules
◉ Enable mocha: install mocha to run tests
◉ Enable loopbackBuild: use @loopback/build helpers (e.g. lb-eslint)
◉ Enable vscode: add VSCode config files
◉ Enable docker: include Dockerfile and .dockerignore
◉ Enable repositories: include repository imports and RepositoryMixin
◉ Enable services: include service-proxy imports and ServiceMixin
Starting the project

3).  The project comes with a “ping” route to test the project. Go to the project directory by running
the “cd getting-started” command and then run the “npm start” to run your project.

4). Open “http://127.0.0.1:3000/ping.” URL in your browser to see the output.

You can see the instruction video for the whole installation process here: https://youtu.be/Y2AlUXk-h2A

Reference :

I hope this article helps!

Last updated on May 17th, 2023.