Heroes Angular Serverless

TypeScript Node/Express 👉TypeScript Serverless ➕ Angular

This project was created to help represent a fundamental app written with Node Express APIs and TypeScript that can be shifted to Serverless Functions with TypeScript.

The client app is Angular, however it could just as easily be Vue or React. The heroes and villains theme is used throughout the app.

by John Papa

Comparative client apps written with Vue and React can be found at at github.com/johnpapa/heroes-vue and github.com/johnpapa/heroes-react

Why

I love Node and Express for creating APIs! These require a server and paying for that server in the cloud. Shifting to serverless alleviates the cost, the server upkeep, helps scale up and down easily, and reduces the surface area of the middleware required for a robust Express app. Is it perfect? No, of course not! But this is a solid option if these factors affect you.

Prerequisites

1. We need a database. You can use the free Azure Cosmos DB trial. Or try the Azure Free Trial.
2. Create an Azure Cosmos DB database.
3. Create a container named heroes and another named villains. Give each a partition key of /id. You can add data through the app later.
4. Make a copy of the env.example file named .env, in the root of the project. It should contain the following code. Replace the CORE_API_KEY and CORE_API_URL variables with your Azure Cosmos DB information.

.env

NODE_ENV=development
PORT=7070
WWW="./"
CORE_API_KEY="your-azure-cosmos-db-api-key-goes-here"
CORE_API_URL="https://papa-cosmos-api-db.documents.azure.com/?WT.mc_id=heroesangularserverless-github-jopapa"

Open the /functions/local.settings.json file and add the CORE_API_KEY and CORE_API_URL variables as shown below. Fill those values in with your database information.

/functions/local.settings.json

{
  "IsEncrypted": false,
  "Values": {
    "AzureWebJobsStorage": "",
    "FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME": "node",
    "CORE_API_KEY": "your-azure-cosmos-db-api-key-goes-here",
    "CORE_API_URL": "https://your-azure-cosmos-db-url-goes-here:443/"
  }
}

Getting Started

1. Clone this repository

   git clone https://github.com/johnpapa/heroes-angular-serverless.git heroes
   cd heroes
   

2. Install the npm packages

   npm install
   

3. Build the Node Express and the Angular code

   npm run node-ng:build
   

4. Run the app

   npm run node:start
   

Debug Node Express and Angular

1. Open proxy.conf.json and change the port to 7070

2. Open the VS Code Command Palette F1

3. Type View: Show Debug and press ENTER

4. Select Debug Express and Angular

5. Press F5

6. Open the browser to http://localhost:7070

You may now set break points in the Express and Angular code.

Debug Functions and Angular

1. Open proxy.conf.json and change the port to 7071

2. Open the VS Code Command Palette F1

3. Type View: Show Debug and press ENTER

4. Select Debug Functions and Angular

5. Press F5

6. Open the browser to http://localhost:7071

You may now set break points in the Functions and Angular code.

Problems or Suggestions

Open an issue here

Resources

• Azure Free Trial
• VS Code
• VS Code Extension for Node on Azure
• VS Code Extension Marketplace
• VS Code - macOS keys
• VS Code - Windows keys
• Azure Functions local.settings.json file
• Tutorial to Deploy to Azure Using Azure Functions

Debugging Resources

• Debugging Angular in VS Code
• Debugging React in VS Code
• Debugging Vue in VS Code
• Tasks in VS Code