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dart_api

README.md

dart_api — Dart → Node.js REST API Example

This example proves the FlutterJS compiler works for server-side Dart: write a REST API in Dart, compile it to JavaScript, run it on Node.js — zero framework, zero config.

What It Proves

Status
Dart classes compile to JS classes ✅
Dart methods compile to JS methods ✅
@Server, @Get, @Post, @Delete annotations understood ✅
Cascade .. operator compiles correctly ✅
String interpolation compiles correctly ✅
package:flutterjs_server import resolved at runtime ✅
cors() + logger() middleware works ✅
All HTTP verbs, params, body parsing work ✅

Project Structure

dart_api/
├── lib/
│   ├── main.dart      ← Entry point: creates FlutterjsServer, mounts routes
│   ├── api.dart       ← @Server/@Get/@Post/@Delete annotated UserApi class
│   └── models.dart    ← User model + in-memory store
├── pubspec.yaml       ← depends on package:flutterjs_server
└── server.js          ← Hand-written reference output (for comparison)

Compile & Run

# Navigate into the project first (like `flutter run`)
cd examples/dart_api

# Compile + start server in one command
dart run ../../bin/flutterjs.dart run --to-js --target node --serve --devtools-no-open

# Or: compile only, then run manually
dart run ../../bin/flutterjs.dart run --to-js --target node --devtools-no-open
node build/flutterjs/src/main.js

The server starts on http://localhost:3000.

API Endpoints

Method Path Description
GET / API index
GET /health Health check
GET /users List all users
GET /users/:id Get user by ID
POST /users Create a user { name, email }
DELETE /users/:id Delete a user

Test It

# List users
curl http://localhost:3000/users

# Get single user
curl http://localhost:3000/users/1

# Create user
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/users \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"Dave","email":"[email protected]"}'

# Delete user
curl -X DELETE http://localhost:3000/users/2

The Dart Source

// lib/api.dart
import 'package:flutterjs_server/flutterjs_server.dart';
import 'models.dart';

@Server(port: 3000)
class UserApi {
  @Get('/users')
  Response listUsers() {
    final users = getAllUsers();
    return Response.ok({'data': users.map((u) => u.toJson()).toList(), 'count': users.length});
  }

  @Get('/users/:id')
  Response getUser(@Param('id') String id) {
    final user = getUserById(id);
    if (user == null) return Response.notFound({'error': 'User $id not found'});
    return Response.ok(user.toJson());
  }

  @Post('/users')
  Response createNewUser(@Body() Map<String, dynamic> body) {
    final name = body['name'] as String?;
    final email = body['email'] as String?;
    if (name == null || name.isEmpty) return Response.badRequest({'error': 'name is required'});
    if (email == null || email.isEmpty) return Response.badRequest({'error': 'email is required'});
    return Response.created(createUser(name, email).toJson());
  }

  @Delete('/users/:id')
  Response removeUser(@Param('id') String id) {
    if (!deleteUser(id)) return Response.notFound({'error': 'User $id not found'});
    return Response.noContent();
  }
}

Known Compiler Gaps (TODO)

The compiler generates nearly correct JS but a few Dart idioms need post-processing:

Dart JS (needed) Status
map.values.toList() Object.values(map) Manual fix
map.containsKey(k) k in map Manual fix
map.remove(k) delete map[k] Manual fix
list.toList() (remove call) Manual fix
str.isEmpty str.length === 0 Manual fix
Top-level vars before class use Move after class Manual fix

These will be fixed in the compiler's expression code generator in a follow-up.