Java HTTP Server and Article Platform

A full-stack article publishing platform built around a custom Java HTTP server. The project combines a Java/JPA backend, a React frontend, MySQL persistence, JWT-based authentication, and Docker Compose deployment.

Features

Accounts and authentication

• User registration and login.
• Password hashing and verification.
• JWT generation and validation.
• Protected frontend routes.
• Profile updates and password changes.
• Environment-based secret configuration.

Article platform

• List all articles.
• Search articles by title and summary in the frontend.
• View article details and metadata.
• Create new articles after authentication.
• Associate references with other articles.
• Display citation counts.
• Show a user's articles on the profile page.

Custom HTTP infrastructure

The backend does not rely on a full web framework for request handling. It implements:

• Socket-based HTTP server startup.
• Per-client request handling.
• HTTP request parsing.
• Exact and prefix route matching.
• Handler abstractions for API endpoints.
• JSON request and response processing.

Architecture

┌────────────────────┐       HTTP/JSON       ┌──────────────────────────┐
│ React + Vite       │ ────────────────────▶ │ Custom Java HTTP server  │
│ Nginx container    │                       │ API handlers + services  │
└────────────────────┘                       └─────────────┬────────────┘
                                                         │ JPA/Hibernate
                                                         ▼
                                               ┌────────────────────┐
                                               │ MySQL 8.4          │
                                               └────────────────────┘

API overview

Method	Endpoint	Purpose
GET	/api/articles	List articles
GET	/api/articles/{id}	Retrieve article details
POST	/api/articles	Create an article
POST	/api/auth/register	Register a user
POST	/api/auth/login	Authenticate and receive a token
GET	/api/profile	Retrieve the authenticated profile
PUT	/api/profile	Update contact information
PUT	/api/profile/password	Change the current password

Repository structure

.
├── back/article-platform/
│   ├── src/main/java/ir/borna/webserver/
│   │   ├── server/       # HTTP server, parser, routing, and handlers
│   │   └── app/          # API, models, repositories, services, and security
│   ├── src/main/resources/META-INF/persistence.xml
│   ├── pom.xml
│   └── Dockerfile
├── front/
│   ├── src/components/   # Reusable UI components
│   ├── src/pages/        # Home, article, auth, and profile pages
│   ├── src/api/          # Backend API clients
│   ├── nginx.conf
│   ├── package.json
│   └── Dockerfile
├── docker-compose.yml
├── .env.example
├── .gitignore
└── README.md

Quick start with Docker

1. Configure environment variables

Copy the example file:

cp .env.example .env

Replace every placeholder in .env:

MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=use-a-strong-local-password
MYSQL_DATABASE=webserver_db
JWT_SECRET=use-a-random-secret-of-at-least-32-characters

Never commit the real .env file.

2. Build and start the stack

docker compose up --build

The default compose configuration exposes:

• Frontend: http://localhost:80
• Backend: http://localhost:8080
• MySQL: available to the backend on the internal Docker network

3. Stop the stack

docker compose down

To remove the database volume as well, use docker compose down -v only when persistent data is no longer needed.

Local development

Backend

Requirements:

• Java 17 or the version configured in pom.xml
• Maven
• MySQL

Set DB_URL, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, and JWT_SECRET, then run the Maven project from back/article-platform/.

Frontend

Requirements:

• Node.js
• npm

cd front
npm install
npm run dev

The frontend uses React Router, Axios, and toast notifications. API base URLs should match the backend address used in the selected environment.

Security improvements included in this repository

• Database passwords are read from environment variables.
• JWT secrets are read from JWT_SECRET and must be at least 32 characters.
• The real .env file is ignored.
• Build outputs, dependencies, and IDE metadata are excluded.

This remains an educational implementation. A production deployment should also add HTTPS, robust token rotation, rate limiting, validation hardening, database migrations, and automated tests.

Technologies

Java · Custom HTTP Server · JPA/Hibernate · MySQL · JWT · React · Vite · Nginx · Docker Compose