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The server-implementation has two responsibilities: On the one hand it serves static files for the AngularJS Frontend. On the other hand it provides (REST-)interface to our persistence layer.
Every request that points directly to a file inside the client directory is simply answered by serving exactly the requested file. For example, a request to /js/lib/angular.js will result in the file /client/js/lib/angular.js being served. Moreover, any other request, that does not include a Accept: application/json header will result in the index.html file being served! For more information on this behaviour, see the History API Fallback.
The easiest way to explain the REST-API is by example (using curl):
$ curl -v -XGET \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
http://localhost:3000/movies
> GET /movies HTTP/1.1
> User-Agent: curl/7.27.0
> Host: localhost:3000
> Accept: application/json
>
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< X-Powered-By: Express
< Cache-Control: no-cache
< Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
< Content-Length: 1916
< ETag: "499684216"
< Date: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 18:06:14 GMT
< Connection: keep-alive
<
<[
< {
< "id": "b2251a97-ea3c-4b7f-a01d-125817babceb",
< "type": "movie",
< "description": "When Batman, Gordon...",
< "title": "The Dark Knight"
< },
< {
< "id": "e7b1ccf2-68ca-4595-83e4-2bed1f59c846",
< "type": "movie",
< "description": "Eight years on, ... ",
< "title": "The Dark Knight Rises"
< },
< ...
<]
$ curl -v -XGET \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
http://localhost:3000/movies/41d18190-16ca-48a1-83c2-7bdfe540d901
> GET /movies/41d18190-16ca-48a1-83c2-7bdfe540d901 HTTP/1.1
> User-Agent: curl/7.27.0
> Host: localhost:3000
> Accept: application/json
>
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< X-Powered-By: Express
< Cache-Control: no-cache
< Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
< Content-Length: 271
< Date: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 18:07:35 GMT
< Connection: keep-alive
<
< {
< "id": "41d18190-16ca-48a1-83c2-7bdfe540d901",
< "type": "movie",
< "description": "Sequel to the 2002 film...",
< "title": "Undisputed II: Last Man Standing"
< }
$ curl -v -XPOST \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
--data '{"title":"A new movie"}' \
http://localhost:3000/movies
> POST /movies HTTP/1.1
> User-Agent: curl/7.27.0
> Host: localhost:3000
> Content-Type: application/json
> Accept: application/json
> Content-Length: 23
>
< HTTP/1.1 201 Created
< X-Powered-By: Express
< Cache-Control: no-cache
< Location: http://localhost:3000/movies/2fc69159-a744-4d46-a8bf-d62457fb64a2
< Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
< Content-Length: 95
< Date: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 18:09:09 GMT
< Connection: keep-alive
<
< {
< "id": "2fc69159-a744-4d46-a8bf-d62457fb64a2",
< "type": "movie",
< "title": "A new movie"
<}