Beyond the Campus. A community-driven mobile platform connecting university students to solve the housing bureaucracy and daily commuting challenges through smart, peer-to-peer sharing.
Connect is an academic extension project designed to modernize how students handle their logistical and socio-economic barriers. Its mission is to reduce evasion rates by optimizing the academic community's own resources—matching those who need a ride or a room with those who can offer it.
This project implements a Clean Architecture Monorepo, separating a robust containerized Python/Django API from a cross-platform React Native mobile client, prioritizing performance, scalability, and strict security validations.
- The Catch: Financial Strain. Students rely on expensive intercity transport or private vans, which can cost up to R$ 500.00 monthly, severely impacting middle-to-low-income families.
- The Smart Carpooling Win: An integrated map system (Uber/99 style) connects users based on common routes (Home-University-Work), allowing students to split fuel costs dynamically.
- The Catch: Real estate agencies demand guarantors, proof of income, and high security deposits, making the relocation process chaotic for students from other cities.
- The Peer-to-Peer Win: A customized bulletin board where students can list and filter specific accommodations (kitnets, shared rooms, republics) by gender, type, and proximity to the campus—cutting out the middleman.
- The Catch: Open WhatsApp or Facebook groups expose students to scams, harassment, and external threats.
- The Institutional Auth Win: The platform features a strict entry barrier. Login and account creation are exclusively validated via the institutional academic email (
@aluno.ifsp.edu.bror equivalent), creating a verifiable "walled garden".
The system operates in a decoupled pipeline designed for rapid development and UX:
| Stage | Component | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Storage | Docker + PostgreSQL |
A persistent volume holding the relational data, user profiles, and geolocation coordinates. |
| 2. Backend API | Django + DRF |
The core engine handling business logic, authentication middlewares, and CRUD operations. |
| 3. Documentation | drf-spectacular |
Auto-generated OpenAPI/Swagger schemas for seamless Front-to-Back contract integration. |
| 4. Client App | React Native (Expo) |
The cross-platform mobile application delivering a native feel for both iOS and Android users. |
Searching for a Room:
User filters for "Female-only Republics" within "2km" of the campus. The API returns a serialized JSON list of available spots, rendering a clean UI card with photos, rent share, and an internal chat button to negotiate directly with the poster.
- Clone the repository
git clone [https://github.com/your-username/campushare.git](https://github.com/your-username/campushare.git)
cd connect- Environment Setup
Copy .env.example to .env and set your local database credentials.
Copy frontend/.env.example to frontend/.env and set EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL to your machine's local IP address (e.g., http://192.168.1.X:8000).
- Start the Infrastructure (VS Code Tasks) This project includes automated VS Code tasks for a frictionless developer experience. And it's expect you to have already downloaded and installed node, npm, expo and docker.
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Open the Run Task menu (Ctrl+Shift+P -> Tasks: Run Task).
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Run 🚀 1. Iniciar Infra (Docker Debug Mode) to spin up the PostgreSQL and Django containers.
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Run 🔄 4. Django: Migrate to build the database schema.
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Run ⚡ 2. Iniciar Backend (Runserver)
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Run 📱 6. Iniciar Frontend (Expo Go) to spin up the React Native client.
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Web: Press w to open in your browser.
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Mobile: Scan the QR code using the Expo Go app on your device (ensure both are on the same Wi-Fi network).
Developed by: @nathanhgo