How to Create a CRUD Application with Ember.js?

introduction in this walkthrough, you'll learn how to build a simple crud (create, read, update, delete) application using ember js we'll rely on back4app as the backend service to effortlessly manage your data this guide covers all the basic operations of a crud system, showing you how to set up a back4app project, design a dynamic data model, and integrate crud operations into an ember js application at the outset, you'll establish a back4app project named basic crud app ember which supplies a reliable non relational data storage solution for your app you'll define your data structure by setting up models and fields either manually or with the help of back4app's ai agent next, you'll explore the back4app admin app—a no code interface that lets you manage data with simple drag and drop interactions finally, you'll integrate your ember js app with back4app via api calls, implementing secure access controls along the way by the end of this tutorial, you'll have a production ready ember js application capable of performing all crud operations, including secure user authentication and effective data management key takeaways build an ember js based crud application backed by a robust backend platform understand how to structure and integrate a scalable backend with an ember js front end use back4app’s intuitive admin app to effortlessly perform create, read, update, and delete operations learn about deployment strategies, including docker containerization, for seamless application delivery prerequisites before diving in, please confirm you have a back4app account with a newly created project need help? visit getting started with back4app https //www back4app com/docs/get started/new parse app an ember js development setup install ember cli and set up your environment by following ember js guides https //guides emberjs com/release/ basic familiarity with ember js, javascript, and rest apis brush up on these topics if needed step 1 – project setup initiating a new back4app project log in to your back4app account click on the “new app” button from your dashboard assign the project name basic crud app ember and follow the subsequent prompts to complete the project setup create new project once the project is created, it will appear in your dashboard and form the foundation for your backend configuration step 2 – designing the data model structuring your data models for this crud application, you'll define several models in your back4app project below are examples outlining the core models and their fields necessary for performing crud operations 1\ items model this model stores information about each item field data type description id objectid auto generated unique identifier title string name of the item description string brief summary of the item createdat date timestamp marking when the item was added updatedat date timestamp marking the last update 2\ users model this model handles user authentication and credentials field data type description id objectid auto generated unique identifier username string unique username for the user email string user's unique email address passwordhash string encrypted user password createdat date timestamp when the account was created updatedat date timestamp when the account was updated you can create these models and define their fields directly within the back4app dashboard create new class you can add fields by selecting a data type, entering the field name, setting a default value, and marking whether it is mandatory create column utilizing the back4app ai agent for schema generation the back4app ai agent is an intelligent feature within your dashboard that can automatically configure your data schema based on your specifications this tool simplifies project initialization by ensuring your data model is optimized for crud operations how to use the ai agent open the ai agent log into your back4app dashboard and find the ai agent in the project settings provide your model details submit a detailed description of the models and fields you need review and confirm the ai agent will generate a suggested schema confirm the details to apply the configuration sample prompt create the following models in my back4app project 1\) model items \ fields \ id objectid (auto generated) \ title string \ description string \ createdat date (auto generated) \ updatedat date (auto updated) 2\) model users \ fields \ id objectid (auto generated) \ username string (unique) \ email string (unique) \ passwordhash string \ createdat date (auto generated) \ updatedat date (auto updated) this ai assisted approach saves time and ensures your data structure is consistent and optimized step 3 – enabling the admin app & handling crud operations an overview of the admin app the back4app admin app provides a user friendly, no code platform for managing your backend data its drag and drop interface allows you to easily perform crud tasks such as adding, viewing, updating, and removing records enabling the admin app go to the “more” menu in your back4app dashboard select “admin app” and click on “enable admin app ” configure your admin credentials by creating an initial admin account this will also set up roles (e g , b4aadminuser ) and system models enable admin app once activated, log into the admin app to manage your application's data admin app dashboard managing crud operations via the admin app inside the admin app, you can insert records click the “add record” button within a model (e g , items) to input new data inspect/modify records select any record to view its details or edit its fields delete records remove entries that are no longer needed this streamlined interface significantly improves the efficiency of data management step 4 – connecting your ember js application with back4app with your backend configured, it’s time to connect your ember js application to back4app using api calls in ember js ember js leverages ember data for handling data operations in this tutorial, you will use the rest adapter to interact with your back4app backend 1\ configuring the rest adapter create or update your application's adapter (e g , app/adapters/application js ) with the following configuration import restadapter from '@ember data/adapter/rest'; export default class applicationadapter extends restadapter { host = 'https //parseapi back4app com'; headers = { 'x parse application id' 'your application id', 'x parse rest api key' 'your rest api key', 'content type' 'application/json' }; } 2\ defining ember data models create an ember model for item (e g , app/models/item js ) import model, { attr } from '@ember data/model'; export default class itemmodel extends model { @attr('string') title; @attr('string') description; @attr('date') createdat; @attr('date') updatedat; } and similarly for user (e g , app/models/user js ) import model, { attr } from '@ember data/model'; export default class usermodel extends model { @attr('string') username; @attr('string') email; @attr('string') passwordhash; @attr('date') createdat; @attr('date') updatedat; } 3\ implementing crud operations use ember data’s store service to perform crud operations for example, to fetch all items, you might create a route similar to import route from '@ember/routing/route'; export default class itemsroute extends route { model() { return this store findall('item'); } } you can similarly add, update, or delete records using ember data’s api methods alternative using native fetch for api calls if you prefer not to use ember data, you can utilize native fetch calls for example, to retrieve items async function fetchitems() { try { let response = await fetch('https //parseapi back4app com/classes/items', { method 'get', headers { 'x parse application id' 'your application id', 'x parse rest api key' 'your rest api key' } }); let data = await response json(); console log('fetched items ', data); } catch (error) { console error('error fetching items ', error); } } integrate these api calls into your ember components or services as needed step 5 – enhancing security for your backend implementing access controls safeguard your data by configuring access control lists (acls) for each object for example, when creating an item that should be visible only to its owner, you can adjust the acl settings via your api calls class level permissions (clps) within the back4app dashboard, set up clps to ensure that only authenticated users have access to certain models this adds an extra layer of security by enforcing default access rules step 6 – implementing user authentication in ember js setting up user accounts back4app leverages the parse user model for handling authentication in your ember js application, you can create services to manage user sign up and login via api calls for example, create an authentication service ( app/services/auth js ) import service from '@ember/service'; export default class authservice extends service { async register(username, password, email) { try { let response = await fetch('https //parseapi back4app com/users', { method 'post', headers { 'x parse application id' 'your application id', 'x parse rest api key' 'your rest api key', 'content type' 'application/json' }, body json stringify({ username, password, email }) }); let result = await response json(); console log('user registered successfully ', result); } catch (error) { console error('registration error ', error); } } async login(username, password) { try { let response = await fetch(`https //parseapi back4app com/login?username=${username}\&password=${password}`, { method 'get', headers { 'x parse application id' 'your application id', 'x parse rest api key' 'your rest api key' } }); let result = await response json(); console log('user logged in ', result); } catch (error) { console error('login error ', error); } } } this service can be injected into your routes or components to handle session management, password resets, and other authentication related tasks step 7 – deploying your ember js application back4app supports various deployment strategies you can deploy your ember js application using methods like docker containerization 7 1 building your ember application build your application run the following command in your terminal ember build environment=production verify the output ensure the dist/ folder contains your production ready assets 7 2 project structure overview a typical ember js project might be organized as follows basic crud app ember/ \| app/ \| | adapters/ \| | | application js \| | models/ \| | | item js \| | | user js \| | routes/ \| | | items js \| | services/ \| | auth js \| config/ \| | environment js \| public/ \| tests/ \| ember cli build js \| package json \| readme md 7 3 dockerizing your ember application if you prefer a containerized deployment, include a dockerfile in your project root \# use an official node js image as the base from node 16 alpine \# set the working directory workdir /app \# copy package files and install dependencies copy package json / run npm install \# copy the rest of the application code copy \# build the ember application run npm run build environment=production \# use a lightweight web server to serve static files from nginx\ stable alpine copy from=0 /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html expose 80 cmd \["nginx", " g", "daemon off;"] 7 4 deploying via back4app web deployment connect your github repository host your ember js project on github configure deployment settings in your back4app dashboard, navigate to web deployment , link your repository (e g , basic crud app ember ), and select the desired branch set build commands define your build command (e g , ember build environment=production ) and specify the output directory deploy your app click deploy and monitor the logs until your app goes live step 8 – conclusion and next steps great job! you’ve now built an ember js based crud application integrated with back4app in this tutorial, you set up a project called basic crud app ember , designed models for items and users, and managed your backend via the back4app admin app you also connected your ember js app using api calls and implemented robust security practices next steps enhance your application consider adding features such as advanced search functionality, detailed views, or live updates expand backend capabilities explore cloud functions, integrate third party apis, or set up role based access control deepen your understanding visit the back4app documentation https //www back4app com/docs and other ember js resources for more advanced topics happy coding and best wishes on your journey with ember js!