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CRUD

3 min read

What does CRUD stand for, and how do the basic operations work?

CRUD is an acronym that stands for Create, Read, Update, and Delete. These are the four operations of persistent storage.

Persistent storage refers to saving data in a way that makes it available even after the power is turned off or the device is restarted.

Understanding how the basic operation of CRUD works is crucial to web development because it forms the foundation for working with databases and building applications where users can add, view, modify, and delete data.

Now, let’s take a look at each part of CRUD more closely

  • Create refers to the process of creating new data. For example, in a web app, this could be when a user adds a new post to a blog.

  • Read is the operation where data is retrieved from a database. For instance, when you visit a blog post or view your profile on a website, you’re performing a read operation to fetch and display data stored in the database.

  • Update involves modifying existing data in the database. An example would be editing a blog post or updating your profile information.

  • Delete is the operation that removes data from a database. For instance, when you delete a blog post or account, you’re performing a delete operation.

CRUD is used when working with databases, the UI, and RESTful APIs. RESTful APIs are a set of conventions for building web services that allow the client to interact with a database or backend system by performing CRUD operations through standard HTTP methods.

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol and it is the foundation for data communication on the web. There are HTTP methods which define the actions that can be performed on resources over the web. The common methods are GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE.

You will learn more about RESTful APIs and HTTP in future videos, but here is a quick break down of how CRUD maps to the different HTTP methods.

  • POST is used to create a new resource.

  • GET is used to retrieve or read data.

  • PUT is used to update a resource by replacing it entirely.

  • PATCH is used to partially update a resource.

  • DELETE is used to remove a resource.

Here’s an example of how CRUD operations might be represented in code using a simple array in JavaScript:

Example Code

let items = [];
 
// Create
function createItem(item) {
  items.push(item);
}
 
// Read
function readItems() {
  return items;
}
 
// Update
function updateItem(index, newItem) {
  items[index] = newItem;
}
 
// Delete
function deleteItem(index) {
  items.splice(index, 1);
}
 
// Example Usage
createItem('Book');
console.log(readItems()); // ['Book']
updateItem(0, 'Magazine');
console.log(readItems()); // ['Magazine']
deleteItem(0);
console.log(readItems()); // []
In this example:We create an item by pushing it into an array.We read the items by returning the array.We update an item by modifying the array element at a given index.We delete an item by removing it from the array using splice().This is a basic representation of how CRUD operations work at a conceptual level.

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