REST API Developer Needed for Backend API Development and Integration

We're seeking an experienced REST API Developer to design, develop, and document robust RESTful APIs that power our web and mobile applications with secure, scalable backend services.

Key Responsibilities:

Design and develop RESTful API architecture

Implement CRUD operations and endpoints

Create API documentation (Swagger/OpenAPI)

Implement authentication and authorization (JWT, OAuth)

Design database schemas and optimize queries

Implement rate limiting and throttling

Handle file uploads and processing

Write API tests and validation

Implement error handling and logging

Optimize API performance and caching

Version API endpoints properly

Integrate third-party APIs

Deploy APIs to production servers

Required Skills:

3+ years of REST API development experience

Strong backend programming (Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, or .NET)

RESTful API design principles and best practices

Database design (SQL and NoSQL)

Authentication/authorization (JWT, OAuth 2.0)

API documentation (Swagger, Postman, OpenAPI)

Version control with Git

API security best practices

Testing frameworks

Cloud deployment (AWS, Azure, GCP)

Technology Stack Options:

Node.js Stack:

Express.js or Fastify framework

TypeScript or JavaScript ES6+

MongoDB/PostgreSQL/MySQL

JWT for authentication

Mongoose/Sequelize/Prisma ORM

Jest/Mocha for testing

Python Stack:

Django REST Framework or Flask

Python 3.8+

PostgreSQL/MySQL/MongoDB

SQLAlchemy or Django ORM

JWT/OAuth libraries

Pytest for testing

PHP Stack:

Laravel or Symfony

PHP 8+

MySQL/PostgreSQL

Eloquent ORM

Laravel Sanctum/Passport

PHPUnit for testing

Java Stack:

Spring Boot

Java 11+

PostgreSQL/MySQL

Hibernate ORM

Spring Security

JUnit for testing

API Design Principles:

RESTful conventions (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE)

Resource-based URL structure

Proper HTTP status codes

JSON response format

API versioning (v1, v2)

Pagination and filtering

Sorting and searching

HATEOAS (optional)

Idempotent operations

API Endpoints to Implement:

User authentication (register, login, logout)

User profile (get, update, delete)

Password management (reset, change)

CRUD operations for main resources

File upload and download

Search and filtering

Bulk operations

Export data (CSV, PDF)

Statistics and analytics

Admin management endpoints

Authentication & Security:

JWT (JSON Web Token) authentication

OAuth 2.0 implementation

API key authentication

Bearer token authorization

Refresh token mechanism

Role-based access control (RBAC)

Permission-based authorization

Session management

Password hashing (bcrypt, Argon2)

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

Security Best Practices:

Input validation and sanitization

SQL injection prevention

XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) protection

CSRF protection

Rate limiting per user/IP

CORS configuration

HTTPS/SSL enforcement

Secure headers (Helmet.js)

API key rotation

Dependency security updates

Database Operations:

Schema design and normalization

CRUD operations

Complex queries and joins

Transactions and rollbacks

Indexing for performance

Query optimization

Connection pooling

Database migrations

Seed data for testing

Data validation

Request Handling:

Request body validation

Query parameter parsing

Path parameter handling

Request headers validation

Content negotiation

Request size limits

Multipart form data (file uploads)

URL encoding/decoding

Request timeout handling

Response Formatting:

Consistent JSON structure

Success responses with data

Error responses with messages

HTTP status codes (200, 201, 400, 401, 403, 404, 500)

Pagination metadata

Response headers (Content-Type, Cache-Control)

HATEOAS links (optional)

Response compression

Error Handling:

Global error handler

Custom error classes

Error logging

User-friendly error messages

Validation error details

Stack trace (development only)

Error codes for client handling

Retry-able errors indication

API Documentation:

Swagger/OpenAPI specification

Interactive API documentation

Request/response examples

Authentication instructions

Error code definitions

Rate limit information

Versioning details

Postman collection

README with setup instructions

Pagination:

Offset-based pagination

Cursor-based pagination

Page number and size

Total count in response

Next/previous page links

Limit max page size

Default pagination values

Filtering & Sorting:

Query parameter filtering

Multiple filter conditions

Range filters (date, price)

Search functionality

Full-text search

Sorting by fields (ASC/DESC)

Multiple sort parameters

Case-insensitive sorting

File Upload:

Single and multiple file upload

File size validation

File type validation (MIME types)

Image compression and resizing

File storage (local or cloud)

S3/Azure Blob/Google Cloud Storage

Signed URLs for secure access

Upload progress tracking

Temporary file cleanup

Caching:

Redis caching

In-memory caching

Cache invalidation strategies

Cache headers (ETag, Last-Modified)

CDN integration

Query result caching

Response caching

Cache expiration policies

Rate Limiting:

Request rate limiting per user/IP

Token bucket algorithm

Sliding window approach

Custom rate limits per endpoint

Rate limit headers (X-RateLimit)

Throttling slow requests

Blacklist/whitelist IPs

Distributed rate limiting (Redis)

API Versioning:

URI versioning (/v1/users)

Header versioning (Accept: application/vnd.api.v1+json)

Query parameter versioning (?version=1)

Backward compatibility

Deprecation notices

Migration guides

Version documentation

Third-Party Integrations:

Payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal)

Email services (SendGrid, Mailgun)

SMS services (Twilio, Nexmo)

Cloud storage (AWS S3, Azure, GCS)

Social media APIs (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)

Maps APIs (Google Maps, Mapbox)

Analytics services

CRM systems

Real-time Features:

WebSocket integration

Server-Sent Events (SSE)

Long polling

Real-time notifications

Live data updates

Chat functionality

Push notifications

Performance Optimization:

Database query optimization

N+1 query problem solutions

Eager loading relationships

Database connection pooling

Response compression (gzip)

API response caching

Asynchronous operations

Background job processing

Load balancing

Testing:

Unit tests for business logic

Integration tests for endpoints

API endpoint testing (Supertest, Pytest, PHPUnit)

Test coverage (80%+ target)

Mock external services

Test database setup

CI/CD pipeline tests

Load testing (Apache JMeter, k6)

Logging & Monitoring:

Request/response logging

Error logging (Winston, Morgan, Python logging)

Performance monitoring

API usage analytics

Log aggregation (ELK Stack, Splunk)

Alert systems for errors

Health check endpoints

Uptime monitoring

Deployment:

Docker containerization

Docker Compose for local development

CI/CD pipeline (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI)

Environment configuration (.env files)

Cloud deployment (AWS, Azure, GCP, Heroku)

Load balancer setup

SSL certificate configuration

Database migration on deployment

Rollback strategies

Database Choices:

SQL: PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server

NoSQL: MongoDB, DynamoDB, Cassandra

Cache: Redis, Memcached

Search: Elasticsearch

Message Queue: RabbitMQ, Redis Queue

API Standards:

RESTful naming conventions

HTTP method semantics

Status code standards

JSON:API specification (optional)

HAL (Hypertext Application Language)

GraphQL (if hybrid approach)

Background Jobs:

Queue system (Bull, Celery, Laravel Queue)

Scheduled tasks (Cron jobs)

Email sending

Report generation

Data processing

Image processing

Cleanup tasks

Batch operations

API Gateway (Optional):

Request routing

API composition

Rate limiting at gateway

Authentication at gateway

Load balancing

API monitoring

Request transformation

Deliverables:

Fully functional REST API

Clean, well-documented code

API documentation (Swagger/Postman)

Authentication system implemented

Database schema and migrations

Unit and integration tests

Environment configuration templates

Deployment scripts and instructions

Error handling implemented

Rate limiting configured

Logging system setup

Docker configuration (if needed)

CI/CD pipeline setup (optional)

Technical documentation

Postman collection for testing

Post-launch support (2 weeks)

Budget: $35 - $75/hour or $5,000 - $15,000 (Fixed project)

Timeline: 6-12 weeks (depending on complexity)