Social Network API using MongoDB

Table of Contents

• Description
• Motivation
• Features
• Installation
• Usage
• API Endpoints
• Database Schema
• Error Handling
• Future Enhancements
• Contributors
• Questions
• License

Description

This project is an API for a social network web application where users can share their thoughts, react to friends’ thoughts, and create a friend list. Built using Express.js for routing, a MongoDB database, and the Mongoose ODM, it serves as a robust backend for managing a social media platform.

Motivation

The primary motivation behind building this application was to learn how to build associations between data in MongoDB and to provide a foundation for a full-fledged social media app. This project serves as a demonstration of proficiency in handling NoSQL databases and creating complex server-side applications.

Features

• User account creation, update, and deletion.
• Posting, updating, and deleting thoughts.
• Adding and removing reactions to thoughts.
• Creating and managing a user's friend list.
• Real-time updates to user thoughts and reactions.

Installation

To install and run this project locally:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/kandekore/Social-Network-API.git

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd Social-Network-API

3. Install dependencies:

   npm install

4. Start the server:

   npm start

Usage

For a detailed guide on how to use the application, please follow this link to the video demonstration.

Basic Commands:

• Create a User: POST /api/users
• Post a Thought: POST /api/thoughts

API Endpoints

• GET /api/users: Get all users
• POST /api/users: Create a new user
• GET /api/users/:userId: Get a single user
• PUT /api/users/:userId: Update a user
• DELETE /api/users/:userId: Delete a user
• POST /api/thoughts: Create a new thought
• GET /api/thoughts: Get all thoughts
• GET /api/thoughts/:thoughtId: Get a single thought
• PUT /api/thoughts/:thoughtId: Update a thought
• DELETE /api/thoughts/:thoughtId: Delete a thought

Database Schema

The database consists of three main models: User, Thought, and Reaction. The User model references the Thought and Reaction models to associate users with their thoughts and reactions.

• User: Stores user information and links to their thoughts and friend list.
• Thought: Represents a thought posted by a user, with fields for content, creation date, and associated reactions.
• Reaction: Captures users' reactions to thoughts.

A detailed schema visualization can be added here.

Error Handling

The API provides comprehensive error handling and input validation to ensure data integrity and provide meaningful error messages to the client.

Future Enhancements

• Integration with a front-end framework like React.
• Implementing real-time updates using WebSockets.
• Enhanced security features like OAuth for user authentication.

Contributors

• Darren Kandekore

Questions

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out:

• GitHub: kandekore
• Email: darren@kandekore.net

License

This project is licensed under the GNU GPL License. For more information, please refer to the LICENSE file in the repository.