Take A Node.js With Express API Serverless Using AWS Lambda

Not too long ago I had written about creating an API with Node.js and Express that accepted image uploads and manipulated the images to be Android compliant before returning them in a ZIP archive. This article was titled, Create an Android Launcher Icon Generator RESTful API with Node.js, and Jimp, and it was a great example of creating APIs that that did most of their work in memory. I even demonstrated how to containerize the application with Docker.

Applications that manipulate media will need to be able to scale, otherwise there is a risk of the application crashing from not enough resources, or too many resources can get expensive. For this reason, it makes perfect sense to take the previous example serverless with Amazon’s Lambda and API Gateway offerings.

We’re going to see how to use API Gateway to accept HTTP requests with binary image data and process that data with Lambda to return various sized Android launcher images packaged in a ZIP archive.

Containerizing A Node.js With Express Image Processing RESTful API Using Docker

Docker is a great way to package and deploy web applications. Applications that have been containerized can easily be created, destroyed, or even moved between servers, as long as the servers are using the Docker runtime.

Not too long ago I wrote about creating a RESTful API that could process images and generate Android compliant launcher icons. This article was titled, Create an Android Launcher Icon Generator RESTful API with Node.js, and Jimp and it was powered by Express Framework. The application could be served on any properly configured server with Node.js. The catch here is that server configuration is never easy or quick.

We’re going to see how to package our web application into a container using Docker.

Create An Android Launcher Icon Generator RESTful API With Node.js, And Jimp

When you’re developing an Android mobile application, it is critical that you come up with a nice launcher icon for all possible Android screen densities. If you’re not too familiar with Android, there are mdpi, hdpi, xhdpi, xxhdpi, and xxxhdpi densities as of now. This number could change in the future.

Once you’ve got your icon, resampling or resizing it for each possible screen density can become a pain in the butt. Instead, it makes sense to use or create a script for this.

If you’ve been keeping up, you’ll remember I wrote about image generators in an article titled, Generating Splash Screens and Application Icons for NativeScript Mobile Apps. Since we’re talented developers, we’re going to create our own service this time around.

We’re going to see how to create a RESTful API that accepts an image and generates various sizes of that same image, bundled within a ZIP archive. We’re going to accomplish this task with Node.js and Express.

Manually Setup NativeScript Without Use Of Provided Scripts

NativeScript is great. There is an easy setup process (at least for Windows, I unfortunately don’t have a Mac so I can’t speak on the MacOS side of things) that provides an executable that helps you through all the steps of setup. Unfortunately, like any automated setup process, things can go awry and stop your excitement on starting on your native apps with some errors that have little suggestion on how to move forward. This guide will help you go through the steps to install and use NativeScript manually, so whether you’re having difficulties with the simple setup, or want to customize a few things along the way, you’re ready to rock and roll.

Upload Files To A Remote Web Service Via A Vue.js Web Application

A few weeks back I wrote about accepting file uploads in a Node.js application that uses Hapi framework. This was a followup to an article I wrote titled, Upload Files to Node.js Using Angular. What if we wanted to use a different front-end framework instead of Angular?

We’re going to take a look at using FormData and Vue.js to upload files, such as images, to a remote web service. Either of the two web services that we’ve previously created, whether it be with Hapi or Express, will work for this example.

Send Emails With Mailgun Using Golang

When building an application of any kind, there may be a need to have it send emails. For example, let’s say you’re building a script and that script needs to send a report through email when it has completed. Or another example is a web application with a form for collecting user feedback. There are many more application scenarios beyond the two listed.

Now let’s say that you don’t have your own email server for sending emails.

Sending emails without a server is easy when you use a transactional email service like the Mailgun API. Through HTTP, emails can be sent from any application and for a very affordable price. We’re going to see how to send emails using Mailgun with Golang.

Navigate Nested Child Routes In A Vue.js Web Application

Not too long ago I had written a few tutorials around navigation in a Vue.js web application. I had written about navigating between routes as well as passing data between routes in the form of route parameters and query parameters.

When developing a web application with a successful user interface, you’re going to want to recycle as many features as possible. Using Vue.js, it is possible to create a multiple level UI by assigning child routes to a parent route within the application. This opens the door to new possibilities in navigation.

We’re going to see how to use nested routes in a Vue.js web application by assigning child routes and views.