Technology Stack
Note:
On a free account on Render, the instance is taken down after 15 minutes of inactivity, leading to high initial load times or API delays. More details here.
Project Overview
Place Finder is a responsive web platform designed to help travelers effortlessly discover and book accommodations near popular tourist destinations. The project includes key features such as a dynamic landing page, rental listings with detailed cards, and a booking system with an integrated calendar.
Beyond its core functionality, the primary goal of this project was to deepen my expertise in web development. I focused on implementing a custom user authentication system, incorporating password salting and hashing for security, along with access and refresh tokens for seamless authentication. This hands-on approach enhanced my understanding of secure user management and improved my proficiency in full-stack development.
Objectives
The project had several key objectives that guided my development process:
- Develop a responsive and user-friendly web platform that allows travelers to easily search, browse, and book accommodations near popular tourist destinations.
- Implement a secure user authentication system using password salting and hashing, along with access and refresh tokens for enhanced security and session management.
- Integrate key booking features such as listing cards, detailed rental pages, and an interactive calendar for seamless reservations.
- Enable users to add their own property listings, allowing hosts to provide details such as location, pricing, amenities, and availability, expanding the platform’s accommodation offerings.
- Ensure scalability and maintainability by following best coding practices and structuring the codebase for future enhancements.
- Document the development process and key learnings to serve as a reference for future projects and continuous improvement.
External Resources
Articles
- JWT and Refresh Token
- Salting and Hashing Passwords with bcrypt.js
- CLOUDINARY for image storage with Node.js and Express
Conclusion
Working on Place Finder has been a transformative experience, allowing me to expand my technical expertise by integrating external services and implementing advanced security practices.
By using Cloudinary, I optimized image delivery, enhancing website performance and user experience. Implementing JWT authentication with access and refresh tokens deepened my understanding of secure user session management, while salting and hashing passwords reinforced my knowledge of authentication best practices. Additionally, optimizing MongoDB queries improved database efficiency, ensuring seamless data retrieval. This project not only strengthened my full-stack development skills but also refined my ability to build scalable, secure, and high-performance web applications.