Create & Express

A React-Redux Application

FINALLY!!! I’ve finally made it here. This has been without a doubt one of the toughest challenges I’ve ever faced in my life. I’m so relieved to have finally made it to this point. There were so many times when I felt like a imposter and wanted to give up. I was fortunate enough to have a fantastic support system behind me, that never failed to remind me I spent 10,000 dollars on this program.

This last project really tested me, but what I’ve said about past projects rings true here as well. The growth I feel going from the JavaScript SPA to this, is so immense. I decided to make a social media platform. One were I could show off my projects that I had created so far. I started by making a Backend API. The Backend contains controllers for user authentication as well as posting creations, and comments. I included parameters such as name of the creation, the location it was made, the date it was made, and an image or video URL to show of the creation. The Backend was easy enough, since I already had so much experience making them.

The hard part started with the Frontend. I felt good about JavaScript from the last project, but React and Redux proved to be a completely difference animal. Learning about State management and storage was more nuanced then I anticipated. I created containers for creations, comments, a profile page, a home page, and a container to require authentication for private routes. I created actions for posting, editing, deleting, and getting all comments and creations. As well as actions for authorization. Finally I created components for modals for my comments and creations, individual creation pages, authorization, and the filters for searching for various creations. The main part that gave me the most trouble during this project was fetching. It gave me a lot of trouble in the last project as well. I think I now have a handle on it but I had a lot of issues with getting the frontend to communicate with the backend. I’ve spent this last week, just touching it up and making it look presentable. I love using CSS, even if I’m terrible at it.

This Flatiron experience has truly been eye opening. I feel so accomplished, and I can’t wait to see what my future with coding will look like.