Acebook

This project is a barebones clone of Facebook, allowing users to sign up, log in, create posts, view posts and favourite posts from other users. It is built using the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js). It was built in a team of 5 over the course of 2 weeks in an agile environment, using a Kanban board to track progress.

Documentation

Install dependencies

Navigate to the frontend file and install the dependencies

cd frontend
npm i

Navigate to the api file and install the dependencies

cd api
npm i

How to run the server and use the app

1. Start the server application (in the api directory)

   Note the use of an environment variable for the JWT secret

   ; cd api
   ; JWT_SECRET=f6d278bb34e1d0e146a80b16ec254c05 npm start
   

2. Start the front end application (in the frontend directory)

In a new terminal session...

; cd frontend
; npm start

You should now be able to open your browser and go to http://localhost:3000/signup to create a new user.

Then, after signing up, you should be able to log in by going to http://localhost:3000/login.

After logging in, you won't see much but you can create posts using PostMan and they should then show up in the browser if you refresh the page.

How to run automated tests

The automated tests run by sending actual HTTP requests to the API. Therefore, before anything, you'll need to start the backend server in test mode (so that it connects to the test DB).

Note the use of an environment variable for the JWT secret

# Make sure you're in the api directory
; cd api

; JWT_SECRET=f6d278bb34e1d0e146a80b16ec254c05 npm run start:test

You should leave this running in a terminal.

Then, you can either run tests for the backend or the frontend following the steps below.

Running tests for the backend

Run the tests in a new terminal session:

# Make sure you're in the api directory
; cd api

; JWT_SECRET=f6d278bb34e1d0e146a80b16ec254c05 npm run test

Running tests for the frontend

Start the front end in a new terminal session

# Make sure you're in the frontend directory
; cd frontend

; JWT_SECRET=f6d278bb34e1d0e146a80b16ec254c05 npm start

Then run the tests in a new terminal session

# Make sure you're in the frontend directory
; cd frontend

; JWT_SECRET=f6d278bb34e1d0e146a80b16ec254c05 npm run test

MongoDB Connection Errors?

Some people occasionally experience MongoDB connection errors when running the tests or trying to use the application. Here are some tips which might help resolve such issues.

• Check that MongoDB is installed using mongo --version
• Check that it's running using brew services list

If you have issues that are not resolved by these tips, please reach out to a coach and, once the issue is resolved, we can add a new tip!

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