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Project #3: A MERN Stack App

Overview

You’ve come a long way, and it's time to show it. This will be your most advanced project to date. It is IMPORTANT to note that when we say advanced, the project doesn't necessarily need to have lots more functionality.

Remember: simple code is stable code, so always favour refactoring and bug fixing over adding more functionality.

With this in mind, you need to be smart about how you plan, limit your project scope to be achievable (in terms of functionality) and focus on quality rather than quantity.

Remember you are working in a team, make sure you are all on the same page and working towards the same goal.

Make sure you review your project proposal with your instructor so you can make sure it's something you can accomplish in the limited time we have. You will have some time after the project to add extra functionality before your Meet & Hire!

Technical Requirements

You must:

  • Build a full-stack application by making your own backend and your own front-end
  • Use an Express API to serve your data from a Mongo database
  • Consume your API with a separate front-end built with React
  • Be a complete product which most likely means multiple relationships and CRUD functionality for at least a couple of models
  • Consume at least one public API to enchance your app
  • Implement thoughtful user stories/wireframes that are significant enough to help you know which features are core MVP and which you can cut
  • Have a visually impressive design to kick your portfolio up a notch and have something to wow future clients & employers. ALLOW time for this.
  • Be deployed online so it's publicly accessible.
  • Have automated tests for at least one RESTful resource on the back-end. Improve your employability by demonstrating a good understanding of testing principals.

Necessary Deliverables

  • A working app hosted on the internet
  • A link to your hosted working app in the URL section of your Github repo
  • A git repository hosted on Github, with a link to your hosted project, and frequent commits dating back to the very beginning of the project
  • A readme.md file with:
    • An embedded screenshot of the app
    • Explanations of the technologies used
    • A couple paragraphs about the general approach you took
    • Installation instructions for any dependencies
    • Link to your user stories/wireframes – sketches of major views / interfaces in your application
    • Link to your pitch deck/presentation – documentation of your wireframes, user stories, and proposed architecture
    • Descriptions of any unsolved problems or major hurdles you had to overcome

Suggested Ways to Get Started

  • Don’t get too caught up in too many awesome features – simple is always better. Build something impressive that does one thing well.
  • Design first. Planning with user stories & wireframes before writing code means you won't get distracted changing your mind – you'll know what to build, and you can spend your time wisely by just building it.
  • Don’t hesitate to write throwaway code to solve short term problems.
  • Read the docs for whatever technologies / frameworks / API’s you use.
  • Write your code DRY and build your APIs RESTful.
  • Be consistent with your code style. You're working in teams, but you're only making one app per team. Make sure it looks like a unified effort.
  • Commit early, commit often. Don’t be afraid to break something because you can always go back in time to a previous version.
  • Keep user stories small and well-defined, and remember – user stories focus on what a user needs, not what development tasks need accomplishing.
  • Write code another developer wouldn't have to ask you about. Do your naming conventions make sense? Would another developer be able to look at your app and understand what everything is?
  • Make it all well-formatted. Are you indenting, consistently? Can we find the start and end of every div, curly brace, etc?
  • Comment your code. Will someone understand what is going on in each block or function? Even if it's obvious, explaining the what & why means someone else can pick it up and get it.
  • Write pseudocode before you write actual code. Thinking through the logic of something helps.

Project Feedback + Evaluation

  • Project Workflow: Did you complete the user stories, wireframes, task tracking, and/or ERDs, as specified above? Did you use source control as expected for the phase of the program you’re in (detailed above)?

  • Technical Requirements: Did you deliver a project that met all the technical requirements? Given what the class has covered so far, did you build something that was reasonably complex?

  • Creativity: Did you added a personal spin or creative element into your project submission? Did you deliver something of value to the end user (not just a login button and an index page)?

  • Code Quality: Did you follow code style guidance and best practices covered in class, such as spacing, modularity, and semantic naming? Did you comment your code as your instructors as we have in class?

  • Problem Solving: Are you able to defend why you implemented your solution in a certain way? Can you demonstrated that you thought through alternative implementations? (Note that this part of your feedback evaluation will take place during your one-on-one code review with your instructors, after you've completed the project.)