Week 12: Final Project

This week is dedicated to designing, building, and presenting your own REST API backend project. You will apply everything learned in Weeks 1–11, including:

• Backend architecture (Controller → Service → Repository)
• DTOs & input validation
• Database persistence (PostgreSQL recommended)
• Authentication & authorization (JWT)
• Clean code, documentation, and testing practices

Have a look at tasks project

---

🎯 Learning Objectives

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

Skill	Description
Design an API	Define resources, endpoints, request/response shapes
Work with a real database	Use PostgreSQL to store persistent data
Implement secure authentication	Use JWT-based authentication to protect routes
Apply validation & error handling	Ensure clean input and consistent error messages
Document and present your work	Explain your architecture and design choices

---

🧱 Project Requirements

Your final project must include:

✅ 1. At least one main resource

Examples:

• Notes
• Blog posts
• Products
• Events
• Movies
• Projects & tasks
• Recipes
• Contacts

✅ 2. Full CRUD Operations

Action	HTTP	Example
Create	POST	/api/items
Read (list + detail)	GET	/api/items & /api/items/{id}
Update	PATCH/PUT	/api/items/{id}
Delete	DELETE	/api/items/{id}

✅ 3. Authentication (JWT)

• POST /auth/register
• POST /auth/login
• Protected routes must require:

Authorization: Bearer <token>

✅ 4. Database Storage

• Use PostgreSQL
• Use Spring Data JPA

✅ 5. DTOs + Validation

• Request DTOs for input
• Response DTOs for output
• Use validation annotations (@NotBlank, @Email, etc.)

✅ 6. Global Error Handling

• Return clean JSON error responses

✅ 7. README Documentation

Your README should include:

• Project overview
• ERD / Data models
• API routes table
• Instructions to run the project

---

🏗 Recommended Project Structure (same as Tasks Project)

final-project/
├── controller/         # Handles requests
├── service/            # Business logic
├── repository/         # Database access
├── mapper/             # DTO <-> Entity mapping
├── dto/                # Request & response DTOs
├── model/              # JPA entities
├── security/           # JWT + password hashing
├── exception/          # Global error handler

Refer to Week 11 Tasks Project for full working examples of:

• User registration and login
• SecurityConfig + JwtAuthenticationFilter
• DTO validation
• Error handling format

---

🧪 Testing Requirements

You should be able to demonstrate:

• Register a new user
• Login & receive JWT token
• Make authenticated requests to protected endpoints
• CRUD operations working as expected

---

📚 Suggested Project Ideas

Project Idea	Description
Expense Tracker	Track user spending categories & totals
Fitness Tracker	Log workouts, calories, and exercise notes
Book Collection	Users store and review books they’ve read
Recipe Manager	Save ingredients, instructions, meal tags
Movie Watchlist	Track movies watched / wishlist
Notes App	Personal notes with tags or folders

You may build your own idea — but it must meet the requirements above.

---

🎤 Final Presentation / Demo

Your demo should include:

1. Brief project overview (1–2 minutes)

2. Show your PostgreSQL tables

3. Use Postman to demonstrate:

   • Register & Login
   • Authenticated CRUD API calls

4. Explain one technical decision (e.g., DTO structure, service layer design)

---

✅ End-of-Week Deliverables

Deliverable	Description
GitHub Repo	Code pushed and clean
README.md	Clear instructions & documentation
Database Running	PostgreSQL working
Demo Presentation	Ready to present your API

---

🏁 Goal

By the end of Week 12, you will have built a real, secure backend application, ready to show in job interviews and portfolios.

This week is your capstone — build something you are proud of 🚀

---