Taskflow Backend

A task management backend built with Node.js, TypeScript, and NestJS.

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Overview

This project is a backend application for managing tasks and projects. It started as a simple Node.js HTTP server and evolved into a full NestJS application with a modular architecture.

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Technologies Used

• Node.js
• TypeScript
• NestJS
• dotenv
• fs (file system)
• Jest (testing)

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Database Choice — PostgreSQL

TaskFlow uses PostgreSQL as its database for the following reasons:

• TaskFlow has structured relational data: Users own Projects, Projects have Tasks, and Tasks are optionally assigned to Users. This relational structure is a perfect fit for a SQL database.
• PostgreSQL enforces data integrity through foreign keys and constraints, which matters for a task management system where relationships between data must stay consistent.
• PostgreSQL is reliable, open source, and widely used in production backends.
• TypeORM has excellent support for PostgreSQL, making it easy to define entities and relationships directly in TypeScript using decorators like @OneToMany and @ManyToOne.
• Unlike NoSQL databases such as MongoDB, which are better suited for flexible or unstructured data, PostgreSQL's schema and relational model match TaskFlow's needs more closely.

Project Structure

taskflow-backend/ ├── src/ │ ├── server.ts │ ├── readUsers.ts │ ├── interfaces/ │ │ └── types.ts │ └── data/ │ ├── mock-users.json │ ├── mock-projects.json │ └── mock-tasks.json └── taskflow-nest/ ├── src/ │ ├── main.ts │ ├── app.module.ts │ ├── app.controller.ts │ ├── app.service.ts │ └── projects/ │ ├── projects.module.ts │ ├── projects.controller.ts │ └── projects.service.ts └── README.md

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Part 1 - Simple Node.js HTTP Server

The first part of this project is a simple HTTP server built using the raw Node.js http module and TypeScript.

What it does

• Defines interfaces for User, Project, and Task
• Reads mock data from JSON files using the fs module
• Serves the data through HTTP endpoints
• Handles missing routes with a 404 error response
• Uses dotenv to load the PORT from a .env file

API Endpoints

Method	Route	Description
GET	/projects	Returns all projects
GET	/users	Returns all users
GET	/*	Returns 404 error

How to run

# From taskflow-backend folder
npm run dev

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Part 2 - NestJS Application

The second part rebuilds the backend using NestJS, a structured framework that organizes code into modules, controllers, and services.

What it does

• Sets up a NestJS project with TypeScript
• Creates a ProjectsModule with a controller and service
• Serves project data through clean REST endpoints
• Handles errors with proper HTTP status codes
• Includes unit tests for all controllers and services

How to run

# From taskflow-nest folder
cd taskflow-nest
npm run start:dev

API Endpoints

Method	Route	Description
GET	/	Returns Hello World
GET	/projects	Returns all projects
GET	/projects/:id	Returns one project by id
GET	/projects/99	Returns 404 if not found

For full NestJS details

See the README inside the taskflow-nest folder: taskflow-backend/taskflow-nest/README.md

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Running Tests

# From taskflow-nest folder
cd taskflow-nest
npm run test

Test Results

• AppController tests
• ProjectsController tests
• ProjectsService tests
• All 9 tests pass

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Git Workflow

All features are developed on the develop branch and merged into main via Pull Requests with code reviews.