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Lorna Watson
Lorna Watson

Posted on • Updated on

Why I created a Node.js backend service for my portfolio site

When I originally wrote this I used Google's Firebase Cloud Functions and has since changed, this post has been slightly updated to reflect that

When I started developing my website I never thought I'd be using a back-end API service, I mean what's the need? Surely a portfolio should be pretty simple and at minimum contain pages such as about, projects and contact?

For a while now, I've been spending a lot of my spare time working on projects and getting to grips with new tech - including Node.js. I created an opportunity for myself to showcase what I've learnt.

I've developed a API Node.js back-end service to do the following:

  • Projects (GitHub)
    • Get all repos with basic stats
    • Get repo readme
  • Blog (DEV.to)
    • Get all posts with basic stats
  • Email (Nodemailer)
    • Send contact email

You can find the repo here. I have a config file that's included in gitignore for smtp settings, github token and twilio dets. If helpful I can include the layout of this here at some point? Anyway...

I'm still learning Node.js and next I want to tidy the code base up i.e. add controllers, services and routes. Thank you for reading and any feedback is welcome. 😇

Top comments (7)

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mensurdurakovic7 profile image
Mensur Duraković

One of the best portofolio website I've seen. I also really like your CV template, do you mind telling me where you get it? :)

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lornasw93 profile image
Lorna Watson

Really appreciate that thank you so much! The CV is from ‘VisualCV’ online, a template builder. I highly recommend it, very clean and easy to use

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lornasw93 profile image
Lorna Watson • Edited

Thank you so much!! 😁😁 Absolutely. I'm very much a visual learner and do best by doing. In general, I looked for 'Nodejs API tutorials' and I was after short pages with simple code to start off. I wish I saved the useful links but didn't 😢 Something like codetips.co.uk/how-to-create-a-cru... and robinwieruch.de/node-express-serve.... Purely online googling tbh! It's been really fun to do/learn 🚀

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Neeraj Mukta

Awesome work Lorna! I really liked the look & feel of your portfolio. Also, it's a delight to see more and more women getting in development. More power to you and women in tech.

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lornasw93 profile image
Lorna Watson

Thank you Neeraj, your comment is really appreciated!! 🙋🏻‍♀️ Thank you so so much 💪🏼🙌🏼

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Andrew Baisden

Cool website I also added a backend node server to my new website. I also noticed that you put your dev.to blog on your CV I did that recently too since becoming more active here.

 
lornasw93 profile image
Lorna Watson

You're welcome, enjoy! 👍🎉