Full Stack MERN Project

This project is built using the MERN stack, aiming to demonstrate a comprehensive implementation of user authentication and management, from user creation to login, utilizing modern web development practices and tools.

Tools & Libraries

Backend

• Express: A minimal and flexible Node.js web application framework.
• MongoDB: A NoSQL database for storing data in a flexible, JSON-like format.
• Mongoose: An ODM (Object Data Modeling) library for MongoDB and Node.js.
• Bcryptjs: A library to help hash passwords.
• Jsonwebtoken: A library to implement JSON Web Tokens.
• Dotenv: Loads environment variables from a .env file into process.env.
• Nodemon: A utility that monitors for any changes in your source and automatically restarts your server.

Frontend

• React: A JavaScript library for building user interfaces.
• React-router-dom: DOM bindings for React Router.
• Axios: A promise-based HTTP client for the browser and node.js.
• Validator: A library of string validators and sanitizers.
• CSS-Modules: Stylesheet management for component-based styling.

Utility

• Insomnia: An API client for testing and debugging RESTful APIs.
• MongoDB Compass: The GUI for MongoDB.
• Lighthouse: An open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages.

Project Tasks

Task 1: Create User (C in CRUD)

• Database Schema: Create a User collection schema with fields for email and password, both strings.
• Endpoint: Implement a POST endpoint /user/create for creating a new user. Ensure emails are unique.

Endpoint Requirements

• Validate the uniqueness of the user's email. If it exists, return an error message "User already exists".

Task 2: User Creation Form

• Develop a form with fields for email and password.
• On form submission, send the email and hashed password to the backend to create a new user.
• Display appropriate messages for success or failure (e.g., user already exists).

Task 3: User Login

• Endpoint: Create an endpoint /user/login to handle login requests.
• Function: Implement loginUser() to find a user by email and verify password with bcrypt.
• If successful, attach a JWT to the request for session handling.

Task 4: UI Rebuild and Route Protection

• Rebuild the frontend using a modern design library.
• Implement public and protected routes.
• Ensure that only logged-in users can access protected content.