Full Stack Twitter Clone – API Development

Updated in May 2025. This course now features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course. This course offers a comprehensive exploration into advanced API development using Node.js, Express, and MongoDB, all within the context of building a fully functional Twitter Clone. Starting with an introduction to the Twitter API, you'll learn how to set up your environment, manage dependencies with NPM, and create a robust Express server. Early lessons focus on establishing the backbone of your application, including setting up MongoDB with Mongoose, creating user models, and implementing secure authentication processes. As you progress, the course delves deeper into complex backend functionalities essential for a social media platform. You'll gain hands-on experience with creating and managing tweets, implementing user-tweet relationships, and enabling features like image uploads, likes, and follows. Each lesson is structured to build on the previous one, ensuring a clear understanding of how these elements interact within a full-stack application. You'll also explore best practices in API security, such as using JWTs for user authentication and Bcrypt for password hashing. In the final sections, you'll implement advanced features that enhance the user experience, such as real-time notifications and profile management. By the end of this course, you will have developed a fully functional Twitter Clone API, equipped with all the necessary tools and knowledge to create scalable, secure, and efficient backend systems in your own projects. This course is designed for developers with a solid understanding of JavaScript, Node.js, and basic web development concepts. Prior experience with RESTful APIs and MongoDB will be advantageous.