first draft of the README

Author: brianviveiros

README.md

@@ -2,6 +2,78 @@
 
 A [Yeoman](http://yeoman.io) generator for building a REST API in minutes using Express + MongoDB.
 
+The main generator will scaffold a project that is identical to the express command line generator as of express 3.4.2.
 
+The express-rest generator adds the following:
+1 A resource generator for generating the routes and queries required to offer basic CRUD operations on the resource.
+2 Scaffolding for a connection to a MongoDB instance using the Mongoose driver.
+3 A basic logger using winston
 
+## Resource Generator
+The resource generator will generate the routes and queries required to offer basic CRUD operations on the resource.
 
+All CRUD APIs follow the convention:
+<table>
+  <tr><th>Action</th><th>HTTP Verb</th><th>path</th></tr>
+  <tr><td>Create</td><td>POST</td><td>/resource</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Read</td><td>GET</td><td>/resource/:id</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Update</td><td>PUT</td><td>/resource/:id</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Delete</td><td>DELETE</td><td>/resource/:id</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Get the full list</td><td>GET</td><td>/resource</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+If you wish to customize the code that has been generated, here's where to look:
+* The routes are defined in app.js
+* The Schema is defined in lib/db.js
+* The quries are defined in resource/<resource>.js
+
+## MongoDB Connection
+Mongoose is currently being used as the MongoDB driver. The file _lib/db.js_ contains the connection and schema definition.
+
+## Logging
+A basic logger is created, the details are in the file _lib/log.js_.  By default it creates a log file named logs/development.log.  If the environment variable NODE_ENV is set to 'production' then the file will be named logs/production.log.
+
+## Dependencies
+1 Make sure you have [yo](https://github.com/yeoman/yo) installed on the latest version.
+	```bash
+	$ npm install -g yo
+	```
+1 Ensure that [MongoDB](http://www.mongodb.org/) is installed and running.
+
+## Getting started
+1 Install the generator: `npm install -g generator-express-rest`
+	```bash
+	$ npm install -g generator-express-rest
+	```
+1 Create a project directory and run the generator
+	```bash
+	$ mkdir myApp
+	$ yo express-rest
+	```
+1 Reply to the prompts asking you for your MongoDB connection details
+	```bash
+	$ [?] IP address where MongoDB is running? (127.0.0.1)
+	$ [?] Database name? (myApp)
+	```
+1 Generate your first resource API
+	```bash
+	$ yo express-rest:resource user
+	```
+1 Start your node server
+	```bash
+	$ node app.js
+	```
+1 Create a few resources using curl
+	```bash
+	$ curl -d "firstname=Brian" http://localhost:3000/users
+	$ curl -d "firstname=Jerry" http://localhost:3000/users
+	```
+1 Retreive the list resources using curl
+	```bash
+	$ curl http://localhost:3000/users
+	```
+
+**Happy Coding!**
+
+## License
+[MIT License](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_License)