Architecture

The types of frontend development used in this full stack project was Express HTML, JavaScript and a single page application. The Express HTML file was pretty easy to construct since it I got to use HandleBars. This was new for me, but self explanatory with the constant like use a {{ title }} function to update for all title pages.

Functionality

When constructing the database, I initially used JSON, to format all of the records, which took some time. It was much easier to switch the backend to NoSQL MongoDB database, because it is a non-relational database that does not require an exact key value pair for every record; however, the body of our database had records that all had to equal true.

Adapting

The main difference between JavaScript and JSON, is that a JSON Object is used for data and has to be fed into a variable as a string, then parsed into JavaScript. There was numerous times where I had to factor code. Specifically in the coursework, some of the formatting was outdated which is to be expected, because your average program releases a new version at least every three months, and the instruction videos were from two years ago. This led me to refactor a large amount of functions, settings, and initialized variables. The one most notable was the jsonwebtoken. The format was import jsonwebtoken = require('jwt'), but the updated documentation recommended a full scope of setting it as const { expressjwt: expressJwt } = require('express-jwt'); function auth() to avoid a bug.

Testing

Some methods required from requesting and retrieving API endpoints include the use of token authorization and authentication in Postman.

Sappy Stuff

This project really helped me reach my goal of establishing a full stack project that I can constantly update and build on because I love traveling. This will probably be one of my main side projects that I work on throughout my career. I know these skills that include working hard, researching every possible avenue, and staying in contact with my mentor when all else fails.