Angular: API Communication and Authentication

Course details

APIs are at the heart of enterprise development, and Angular ships with robust services to communicate with them via HTTP. But one of the best ways to implement authentication of API services is using JWTs (JSON web tokens). In this course, we take a deep dive into using the provided $http service in Angular to create a robust and reusable API service implementing JWT authentication. Instructor Victor Mejia also covers how to use an Angular router to protect client-side routes and unit test services, HTTP requests, and async actions. All these concepts are demonstrated using a realistic contact management application, so you can see how API calls and user authentication are implemented in a real-world Angular app.

Learning objectives
Setting up and seeding your database
Using HTTP requests and routing in Angular
Creating an Angular service
Adding JWT authentication
Implementing a user login
Sending JWTs to API requests

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome
02 - What you should know
03 - Using exercise files

1. Getting Started

04 - Overview of the Angular CLI
05 - Architecture of an Angular + Node application
06 - Database setup using mLab
07 - Seeding a database

2. HTTP in Angular

08 - GET route for the API
09 - POST route for the API
10 - Using @angular http to retrieve contacts, part 1
11 - Using @angular http to retrieve contacts, part 2
12 - Creating a new route for adding a new contact
13 - Using ngForm for form submission
14 - Writing the onSubmit() function

3. Creating an Angular Service for API Communication

15 - API service with a central request function
16 - Wrapper functions for GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE
17 - Refactoring HTTP calls to use the API service
18 - Central error catching

4. Adding JWT Authentication to the Node Express API

19 - JWT (JSON Web Token) overview
20 - Using Express Router
21 - User login and generating JWTs
22 - Authenticating requests and validating JWTs

5. UI Communication with the API and Authentication

23 - Auth service for local JWT management
24 - Implementing a user login
25 - Sending JWTs to API requests
26 - Logging out of the application
27 - Preventing route access without authentication

Conclusion

28 - Next steps