Realtor App Backend Project

Quick Links

GitHub Repository: See the code at the GitHub repository.
Application Documentation: See the API documentation on Postman.
Application Demo: Try out the application using Postman.

Project Overview

Brief Description:
The app is a REST API built in the Node.js framework Nest.js, which queries and updates a Postgres database. The app allows a user to make http requests to a set of endpoints which query available realty properties.

The user can request a full list of available properties.
The user can also filter the list of properties based on the various attributes of the properties, such as price, city, and property type.
Users with a REALTOR role can create, update, and delete realty listings.
Users can message the realtor for the property with inquiries.

Technology Stack:

Frontend: directory reserved for building a Vue.js frontend
Backend: Node.js, Express.js, Nest.js, Prisma ORM
Database: Postgres
Other Tools: JWT for authentication

Features

Core Features:

User authentication and authorization
CRUD operations for primary resources.
Data Validation and Exceptions

Code & Architecture Features:

Modular architecture
Automated unit tests
Middleware: guards, interceptors, pipes.
Dependency inversion by using decorators
Separation of Concerns
MVC design pattern: Model-View-Controller

Architecture

High-Level Architecture Diagram:

The backend application is part of a three-layer stack consisting of a web application frontend, the backend, and a Postgres database:

Usage Examples

Using within Postman:

The application may be tested using Postman. Above is an example of a request to get a listing of all homes.

Using within JavaScript

The application may be called from within a frontend app such as a Vue.js application using the JavaScript axios package.

Using with command line

curl -X GET https://vue-nest-realtor-app-2.vercel.app/home

Sample API response:

An array of objects, each with the properties of one realty listing

Testing

Testing Strategy:

Manual testing using Postman.
Unit and integration testing using @nestjs/testing package.
End-to-end testing using Supertest package for testing http requests and responses.

Challenges & Solutions

Major challenges encountered during development:

A major challenge was deploying the app to the cloud. Nest.js was not a pre-configured framework in the settings for Vercel.

Solution Implemented:

Trial and error and research in order to set up a configuration for Nest.js running as a Node.js application.