Building a REST API with Firebase Cloud Functions, TypeScript, and Firestore

The article details the process of building a REST API utilizing Firebase Cloud Functions, TypeScript, and Firestore, with an overview of setting up Firebase, creating a Firestore database, writing, deploying, and managing Cloud Functions, and integrating Express.js for building a robust API. The demo involves creating a journal API capable of handling CRUD operations—create, read, update, and delete—on journal entries. The article also explores the Firebase Realtime Database, highlighting when it is preferable to use Firestore versus Realtime Database based on application requirements like data complexity, batch operations, data structure, availability, and offline access. Additionally, the article provides guidance on data modeling best practices for Firestore and includes code snippets for implementing various functions within the Firebase ecosystem. The conclusion emphasizes setting up middleware for production-ready applications and the potential for integrating authentication and authorization features.