Building a Full-Stack Notes Application with Node.js, Express, React, and Tailwind CSS 🚀✨

Introduction

In this project, I developed a robust full-stack notes application designed to manage and organize notes efficiently. The application showcases several modern web development practices, including a RESTful API, dynamic UI updates, and state management, ensuring a great user experience.

This project demonstrates how to build a full-stack application with modern technologies and best practices. It’s a great starting point for anyone looking to build similar CRUD-based applications. You can explore the code and contribute to the project on GitHub.

ScreenShots

Features

Here are the key features of the application:

• Add Notes: Users can create new notes with a title and rich text content.

• Edit Notes: Existing notes can be updated seamlessly with an intuitive UI.

• Delete Notes: Notes can be deleted with a confirmation modal for added safety.

• Search Notes: Users can search for notes dynamically with real-time filtering.

• Responsive Design: The application is styled with Tailwind CSS for a clean and responsive interface.

• Loading Indicators: A loading spinner or skeleton UI is displayed during data fetching to enhance UX.

• Toast Notifications: Success and error messages are shown using the react-toastify library for better feedback.

• Reusable Components: Components like modals, note cards, and the navbar are modular and reusable.

Backend Overview

The backend is built using Node.js and Express, with SQLite as the database. It exposes a RESTful API for CRUD operations.

Endpoints:

• GET /api/notes: Fetch all notes.

• GET /api/notes/:id: Fetch a specific note by ID.

• POST /api/notes: Add a new note.

• PUT /api/notes/:id: Update a specific note.

• DELETE /api/notes/:id: Delete a specific note.

Example Code for Backend:

const express = require('express');
const router = express.Router();
const { addNote, getNotes, getNoteById, updateNote, deleteNote } = require('../controllers/noteController');

router.get('/', getNotes);
router.get('/:id', getNoteById);
router.post('/', addNote);
router.put('/:id', updateNote);
router.delete('/:id', deleteNote);

module.exports = router;

Frontend Overview

The frontend is developed using React and styled with Tailwind CSS. Routing is handled by react-router-dom.

Components:

• Navbar: Contains links to different pages like Home, Add Note, and About.

• NoteCard: Displays individual notes with options to view, edit, or delete.

• Search Bar: Filters notes dynamically based on the user's input.

• Add/Edit Note Form: Allows users to create or edit notes with a rich text editor.

• Confirmation Modal: Ensures safety when deleting notes.

Context API for State Management

To manage global loading states, I used the Context API:

LoadingContext.js:

import { createContext, useState } from 'react';

export const LoadingContext = createContext();

export const LoadingProvider = ({ children }) => {
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false);

  return (
    <LoadingContext.Provider value={{ loading, setLoading }}>
      {children}
    </LoadingContext.Provider>
  );
};

Axios Configuration

To manage API requests more efficiently, I created a centralized Axios config file:

axiosConfig.js:

import axios from 'axios';

const axiosInstance = axios.create({
  baseURL: 'http://localhost:5000/api/',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
});

export default axiosInstance;

Folder Structure

The project is structured to ensure scalability and maintainability:

frontend/
├── src/
   ├── components/
   │   ├── Navbar.js
   │   ├── NoteCard.js
   │   └── DeleteModal.js
   ├── pages/
   │   ├── Home.js
   │   ├── AddNote.js
   │   └── EditNote.js
   ├── config/
   │   └── axiosConfig.js
   ├── context/
   │   └── LoadingContext.js
   └── App.js

backend/
├── controllers/
├── models/
├── routes/
└── server.js

Challenges Faced

• Dynamic Filtering: Ensuring the search function updates the note list in real time.

• User Experience: Balancing performance and a polished UI with features like skeleton loading and toast notifications.

Things you can add to improve your skills:

• User Authentication: Add login/signup functionality to secure user notes.

• Tagging and Categorization: Allow users to organize notes with tags.

• Export Notes: Provide an option to export notes as PDFs or text files.

• Dark Mode: Enhance UI by adding a dark theme toggle.

Conclusion

This project demonstrates how to build a full-stack application with modern technologies and best practices. It’s a great starting point for anyone looking to build similar CRUD-based applications. You can explore the code and contribute to the project on GitHub.

I hope you find this project useful and inspiring! Feel free to leave feedback or suggestions. 🚀

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