The MERN Stack Blogify Project: Web Development

Set up the blogify mern stack by creating api and client folders, develop the api first before connecting the client, and use GitHub for version control.

Initialize the project with npm and install express, mongoose, and dotenv to support an MVC design pattern, then set up an http server with Express and process.env.port, defaulting to 9080.

Explore data structure and data modeling for a MERN stack blog app, defining models for posts, comments, categories, and users, and mapping one-to-many and one-to-one relationships.

Explore data modeling for a MERN stack blog app by building a user schema in mongoose, including references, profile fields, posts, followers, notifications, and password reset and account verification tokens.

Learn authentication and authorization in a MERN app by managing user roles (normal user, admin, moderator) with middleware and implementing token-based flows using JSON web tokens in Express.

Learn how json web tokens enable secure claims between a server and user, via header, payload, and signature on jwt.io, signed by a secret and decoded to verify identity.

Test the dummy user registration controller using Postman in the MERN blogify project. Configure a register request to localhost:9080/api/v1/register and verify a 200 response.

Implement user registration in the MERN stack blogify project by validating input, creating or rejecting users based on existence, and returning 201 with user id, username, and email.

Hash the user password with bcrypt.js before saving, using genSalt(10) to create a salt and store the hashed string instead of the plain password.

Learn to implement login for the Blogify app by validating username and password with bcrypt, handling errors with consistent messages, updating last login, and preparing for token-based authorization.

Generate a secure json web token for a user by building a payload with the user id, signing it with a secret key, and setting an expiry of one hour.

Implement and protect a dummy profile controller to enforce authorization via token verification after login. Use middleware to check the token and secure the get profile endpoint.

Implement a global express error handler middleware, wired after routes, to return structured errors with status, message, and stack for graceful server error handling.

This lecture demonstrates installing express-async-handler and refactoring controllers to replace repetitive try-catch blocks, routing errors to the global error handler for clearer 500 internal server errors.