city_explorer_api

Author: Scott Falbo Version: 1.0.0 (increment the patch/fix version number if you make more commits past your first submission)

• To launch goto the Front end and insert the back end link without the trailing /.
  • Front End for deployment
    
  • No longer live.

Overview

This is a backend server that:

1. Receives a request from the client.
2. Retrieves data from an api, or local json in this case.
3. Packages that data.
4. Responds to the front end with the requested object.

Getting Started

To make this happen we will do the following:

1. Install dependencies via npm. express, cors, dotenv
2. Create a server.js.
3. Bring in dependencies.
4. Create routes for requests and responses.
5. Retrieve the requested data and format it for front end templating via a constructor function.
6. Respond to the request with the new object(s).
7. Deploy to heroku to test with the City Explorer front end

Architecture

• Node.js will be used along with:
  • express this does something
  • cors: this does also something
  • dotenv As I understand it now this while hold our API keys
  • superagent will be handling our GET
• Node will allow the JavaScript to run as a server outside of a browser environment.
• server.js is written in JavaScript and calls the above installed dependencies.
• .json files are currently holding our mock information.
• objects are prepared for use with Mustache.js

Change Log

• Feature: Locations

  • Estimated time: 60 minutes
  • Start time: 2:12pm
  • Finish time: 2:43pm
  • Actual time: 30 minutes

• 10-15-2020 2:45pm - Server is talking to the front end and displaying location information

• Feature: Weather

  • Estimated time: 45 minutes
  • Start time: 2:46pm
  • Finish time: 3:15pm
  • Actual time: 30 minutes

• 10-15-2020 3:15pm - Application is displaying weather data

• Feature: Errors

  • Estimated time: 45 minutes
  • Start time: 4:30pm
  • Finish time: 7:50pm
  • Actual time: 90 minutes cumulatively

• 10-15-2020 7:50pm - I think the error thing will work once there is a way to check the input against something.

October 17th , Class 07: Change Log:

• Feature: Locations API

  • Estimated time: 30 minutes
  • Start time: 12:30pm
  • Finish time: 1:05pm
  • Actual time: 35 minutes

• 10-17-2020 1:05pm - the location is being accessed from the locationIQ api instead of locally from the .json files. Installed and refactored to use superagent to handle .get and .use

• Feature: Weather API

  • Estimated time: 60 minutes
  • Start time: 1:30pm
  • Finish time: 2:25pm
  • Actual time: 55 minutes

• 10-17-2020 - Figured out the weather api. Learned about .query(). The weather handler takes in the location request and returns 8 days of weather based on latitude and longitude.

• Feature: Data Formatting

  • Estimated time: 30 minutes
  • Start time: 1:30pm
  • Finish time: 2:25pm
  • Actual time: 55 minutes

• 10-17-2020 - Did this while I was refactoring the weather handler. Replaced .forEach() with .map(). Still a little confused on exactly what it's doing, looking forward to this weeks codes challenges.

• Feature: Trails api

  • Estimated time: 45 minutes
  • Start time: 3:00pm
  • Finish time: 3:30pm
  • Actual time: 30 minutes

• 10-17-2020 - Added the trails api. Returns the top ten trails in the searched area by using the request latitude and longitude. Same .map() sorting as the weather.

October 22nd , Class 08: Change Log:

• Feature: Database

  • Estimated time: 60 minutes
  • Start time: 10:00am
  • Finish time: 6:30pm
  • Actual time: about 2 hours on and off

• 10-22-2020 - Added a database and tables in a schema.sql. Brought postgresql into the server.

• Feature: Server

  • Estimated time: 90 minutes
  • Start time: 7:00pm
  • Finish time: 9:00pm
  • Actual time: 2 hours

• 10-22-2020 - Location information loads from cashed database if previously searched. If not an API call is made and the object is cached.

• Deployed to Heroku with live database.

October 24nd , Class 08: Change Log:

• Feature: Movies

  • Estimated time: 60 minutes
  • Start time: 1:30pm
  • Finish time: 2:10pm
  • Actual time: 40 minutes

• 10-24-2020 - Getting movies back from the API, need to filter down the number of results. Going to do other stuff and then circle back to docs.

• Feature: Yelp

  • Estimated time: 60 minutes
  • Start time: 2:30pm
  • Finish time: 3:00
  • Actual time: 30 minutes

• 10-24-2020 - Got the Yelp API hooked up and doing the things.

• Feature: Pagination

  • Estimated time: 90 minutes
  • Start time: 3:45pm
  • Finish time: 3:55pm
  • Actual time: 10 minutes

• 10-24-2020 - Today's class basically did this, thought it would still be a hassle but it was super smooth. The yelp results paginate by 5 at a time.

Credits and Collaborations

• Learned about the dateToString() method from MDN after trying a million ways of converting the object and trying to splice it.
  
• Working on the error message references the 301 class-06 demo code.
  
• had some help from Amber Falbo on some tricks for the weather api URL.
• query wiki Read through this a bit.