User Authentication
User authentication is critical for web applications to ensure secure access and user verification. It differentiates between authentication, which confirms user identity, and authorization, which determines user permissions. The chapter discusses various methods of authentication, particularly focusing on JSON Web Tokens (JWTs), their implementation in Node.js, and security best practices to bolster application defenses.
Sections
Navigate through the learning materials and practice exercises.
What we have learnt
- Authentication verifies user identity, while authorization determines user permissions.
- Common authentication strategies include session-based and token-based methods, with an emphasis on JWT.
- Security best practices include never storing passwords in plain text and ensuring secure token storage to prevent vulnerabilities.
Key Concepts
- -- Authentication
- The process of verifying who a user is before granting access to resources.
- -- Authorization
- The process of determining what an authenticated user is allowed to do.
- -- JWT (JSON Web Token)
- A compact, URL-safe means of representing claims to be transferred between two parties, allowing stateless authentication.
- -- Middleware
- Functions that execute during the lifecycle of a request to the server, often used for authentication and authorization.
- -- Refresh Tokens
- Special tokens used to obtain new access tokens without requiring the user to log in again.
Additional Learning Materials
Supplementary resources to enhance your learning experience.