Intgram - Backend Practice Project

A simple backend API project built with Express and MongoDB, designed to practice full-stack development concepts. This project allows users to post photos with captions and retrieve them through API endpoints.

Project Overview

Intgram is a lightweight Instagram-like backend application where you can:

• POST photos with captions to the database
• GET all posted photos and captions from the database
• Display the retrieved data on a frontend application

This project is perfect for learning backend fundamentals including:

• RESTful API design
• MongoDB database operations with Mongoose
• Express server setup and routing
• Environment variable management
• API request/response handling

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js
• Framework: Express.js
• Database: MongoDB (with Mongoose ODM)
• Environment Management: dotenv

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• MongoDB cluster (or local MongoDB)

Setup Steps

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/AkshuDevelop/Intgram.git
   cd Full-Stack\ Project

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Create .env file Create a .env file in the root directory and add your MongoDB connection string:

   MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://username:password@your-cluster.mongodb.net/database-name
   

4. Start the server

   node index.js
   # or with nodemon for development
   npm install -g nodemon
   nodemon index.js

The server will run on http://localhost:3000 (or your configured port).

Project Structure

Full-Stack Project/
├── src/
│   ├── db/
│   │   └── db.js              # MongoDB connection configuration
│   └── app.js                 # Express app setup
├── .env                       # Environment variables (not tracked by git)
├── .gitignore                 # Git ignore rules
├── package.json               # Project dependencies
└── README.md                  # This file

API Endpoints

POST - Create a new post

Endpoint: POST /api/posts

Request Body:

{
  "caption": "Your photo caption here",
  "photo": "photo-url-or-base64-encoded-image"
}

Response:

{
  "_id": "mongodb-id",
  "caption": "Your photo caption here",
  "photo": "photo-url-or-base64-encoded-image",
  "createdAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
}

GET - Retrieve all posts

Endpoint: GET /api/posts

Response:

[
  {
    "_id": "mongodb-id",
    "caption": "First post",
    "photo": "photo-url",
    "createdAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
  },
  {
    "_id": "mongodb-id-2",
    "caption": "Second post",
    "photo": "photo-url-2",
    "createdAt": "2024-01-15T11:45:00.000Z"
  }
]

How It Works

1. Backend (This Project)

   • Receives POST requests with photo and caption data
   • Stores data in MongoDB using Mongoose models
   • Retrieves stored posts via GET requests
   • Returns data in JSON format for frontend consumption

2. Frontend Integration

   • Fetch posts using: GET /api/posts
   • Display photos and captions in the UI
   • Allow users to submit new posts via POST request
   • Refresh feed to show latest posts

Environment Variables

The .env file contains sensitive data and is NOT tracked by Git for security reasons.

Required Variables:

• MONGODB_URI - Your MongoDB connection string

Optional Variables:

• PORT - Server port (default: 3000)
• NODE_ENV - Environment mode (development/production)

Important Security Notes

⚠️ Never commit .env file to GitHub!

• Your MongoDB credentials are safe in the .env file
• Always use environment variables for sensitive data
• The .gitignore file ensures .env is excluded from version control

Getting Started with Development

1. Create your Mongoose models in src/models/ directory
2. Create route handlers in src/routes/ directory
3. Update src/app.js to include your routes
4. Test API endpoints using Postman, Thunder Client, or curl

Example: Testing with curl

# POST a new photo
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/posts \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"caption":"My first post","photo":"https://example.com/photo.jpg"}'

# GET all posts
curl http://localhost:3000/api/posts

Next Steps to Enhance

• Add user authentication
• Implement likes/comments system
• Add photo upload functionality
• Create pagination for posts
• Add input validation
• Implement error handling middleware
• Add unit tests
• Deploy to production (Heroku, Railway, etc.)

Troubleshooting

Connection Error to MongoDB:

• Check your .env file has the correct MONGODB_URI
• Ensure your IP address is whitelisted in MongoDB Atlas
• Verify your database credentials are correct

Port Already in Use:

• Change the port in your .env or server configuration
• Or kill the process using the port: lsof -ti:3000 | xargs kill -9

Author

Akshat