First Official Devlog

Link Shortner Project

Link Shortener Devlog

This devlog chronicles the development of a full-stack MERN link shortener, from its initial conception to a feature-rich, scalable application.

Phase 1: Project Inception and Core Functionality

The project began with the goal of creating a simple yet powerful URL shortener. The initial focus was on establishing a solid foundation using the MERN stack.

Backend Setup: The backend was built with Node.js and Express.js, providing a fast and flexible server environment. I used MongoDB with Mongoose to create the database schemas for users and URLs, which allowed for a scalable and organized data structure. The core logic for creating short URLs and redirecting them was implemented in the urlController.js file.

Frontend Foundation: The frontend was set up with React and Vite, using TypeScript for type safety and improved developer experience. The initial UI was a simple form to submit a long URL and receive a shortened one.

Phase 2: User Authentication and Dashboard

With the core functionality in place, the next step was to add user authentication and a personalized dashboard.

Secure Authentication: I implemented a secure user sign-up and login system using JSON Web Tokens (JWT) and cookies. The authMiddleware.js file was created to protect routes and ensure that only authenticated users could access certain features.

User Dashboard: A protected dashboard was created for authenticated users to view, manage, and delete their links. This required creating a protected route component in React to handle user authorization on the frontend.

Phase 3: UI/UX and Frontend Polish

The focus then shifted to creating a modern and user-friendly interface.

Modern UI: I integrated Shadcn UI and Tailwind CSS to build a sleek and responsive design. This allowed for the rapid development of high-quality UI components like cards, buttons, and forms.

Animations and Interactivity: Framer Motion was used to add subtle animations and transitions, which enhanced the overall user experience and made the application feel more dynamic.

Phase 4: Advanced Features and Optimization

The final phase was to add advanced features and optimize the application for performance and scalability.

Analytics: I implemented an analytics dashboard that displays the total number of links, total clicks, and a 7-day click history chart using Recharts.

Caching: To improve performance, I added a caching layer with Redis. This reduced the load on the database by storing frequently accessed links in memory.

Load Balancing: To ensure the application could handle a growing number of users, I implemented load balancing with Nginx and the Node.js cluster module. This allowed me to distribute traffic across multiple server instances, improving both performance and reliability.

Conclusion

This project was a fantastic learning experience, taking me from the fundamentals of MERN stack development to the complexities of building a secure, scalable, and production-ready application.