Flight Path Calculator API Overview This project is a simple Express.js API that helps calculate flight paths. If you're given a list of flights, it can figure out where the journey starts, where it ends, and even lay out the entire route, including all layovers. It's handy for anyone dealing with flight logistics, like building travel apps or analyzing flight routes.
Features Find the starting and ending airports: Based on a series of connected flights, it determines where the journey starts and where it ends. Get the complete flight path: It can map out the entire route, including all stops and layovers, in the correct order. Handles edge cases: If there are missing data or issues with the flight list, it will give you helpful error messages. Tech Stack Node.js: JavaScript runtime for building server-side applications. Express.js: Fast, lightweight web framework for Node.js. JavaScript: The language used for the backend logic. Getting Started Clone the repository:
bash Copy code git clone https://github.com/your-username/flight-path-calculator.git cd flight-path-calculator Install dependencies:
Make sure you have Node.js installed, then run:
bash Copy code npm install Start the server:
Run the server locally with:
bash Copy code npm start The server will be available at http://localhost:8080.
How to Use Endpoints POST /calculate-start-end
Use this endpoint to find out the start and end airports for a journey. Pass in an array of flights (source and destination pairs), and it will tell you where the journey begins and ends.
Request:
json Copy code { "flights": [ ["JFK", "ATL"], ["ATL", "SFO"], ["SFO", "LAX"] ] } Response:
json Copy code ["JFK", "LAX"] This means the journey starts at JFK and ends at LAX.
POST /calculate-full-path
This endpoint gives you the full flight path, including any layovers. It connects all the flights in the correct order and returns the route from start to finish.
Request:
json Copy code { "flights": [ ["JFK", "ATL"], ["ATL", "SFO"], ["SFO", "LAX"] ] } Response:
json Copy code ["JFK", "ATL", "SFO", "LAX"] The response shows the full journey from JFK to LAX, with stops in ATL and SFO.
Example Scenario: Layovers If you're flying from Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK), but your flight stops in Denver (DEN) and Chicago (ORD) along the way, you can pass the following data:
Request:
json Copy code { "flights": [ ["LAX", "DEN"], ["DEN", "ORD"], ["ORD", "JFK"] ] } Response:
json Copy code ["LAX", "DEN", "ORD", "JFK"] This shows the complete route, including the layovers.
Error Handling The API will check if the input data is valid. If it’s not, you’ll get an error message. For example, if you provide a flight pair that doesn’t have both a source and a destination, the server will return a 400 Bad Request with a message like:
json Copy code { "error": "Flights should be an array of valid airport pairs." } Similarly, if the flight list doesn’t make sense (like if there’s no clear starting point), the server will return an error explaining the issue.
Running Tests To run the tests, you can use the following command:
bash Copy code npm test This will check that everything works as expected, including how the app handles flight data and error cases.
Environment Variables PORT: The port the server listens on. By default, it’s set to 8080, but you can change it if needed. NODE_ENV: The environment in which the app is running. Set this to test for running tests, or production for the live environment. Contributing Feel free to contribute! If you have ideas for new features or spot any bugs, here’s how you can help:
Fork the repository. Create a new branch (git checkout -b feature-name). Make your changes and commit them (git commit -m 'Add some feature'). Push to your branch (git push origin feature-name). Open a pull request, and we'll take a look. License This project is licensed under the MIT License. Check out the LICENSE file for more details.