Ranked Choice Voting

Ranked Choice Voting is a web application that allows users to make decisions with friends via ranked voting. The project consists of a client-side application built with React and TypeScript, and a server-side application built with NestJS. The frontend is present in the client directory but is excluded from this documentation as the backend was the primary focus.

Features

• Create and join polls

• Add nominations

• Rank nominations

• View results

• Real-time updates with WebSockets

• -- Ranked Voting System: Enables users to rank their preferences.

• -- Backend Built with NestJS: A robust and scalable server framework.

• -- Redis Integration: Utilizes Redis with ReJSON module for storing and querying voting data.

• -- Dockerized Services: Easy deployment and scaling using Docker and Docker Compose.

• -- Scalable Architecture: Designed to handle multiple users and concurrent voting processes efficiently.

Getting Started

Technologies Used

Backend

• Node.js: JavaScript runtime for building server-side applications.
• NestJS: Framework for building scalable and maintainable backend systems.
• Redis with ReJSON: Advanced data storage and querying capabilities.

Development Tools

• Docker: Containerization for services.
• Prettier: Code formatting.
• Concurrently: Running multiple processes simultaneously in development mode.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/Ashim-Stha/Ranked-Choice-Voting-App.git
cd ranked-choice-voting

2. Install dependencies for the root directory:

npm install

3. Install dependencies for the client application:

cd client
npm install
cd ..

4. Install dependencies for the server application:

cd server
npm install
cd ..

5. Start the application:

npm run start

This will start the Docker container for Redis, the server, and the client application.

Running Tests

To run tests for the client application:

npm run test --workspace=client

To run tests for the server application:

npm run test --workspace=server

Storybook

To start Storybook for the client application:

npm run storybook --workspace=client

Environment Variables

The application requires certain environment variables to be set. You can find the required variables in the .env files located in the client and server directories. Make sure to create these files and set the appropriate values before running the application.

Client .env Example

VITE_API_HOST=127.0.0.1
VITE_API_PORT=3000
VITE_POLLS_NAMESPACE=polls

Server .env Example

PORT=3000
CLIENT_PORT=8080
REDIS_HOST=localhost
REDIS_PORT=6379
POLL_DURATION=7200
JWT_SECRET=wowthisisabadsecret123

WebSocket

The application uses WebSocket for real-time updates. The server-side implementation is done using the socket.io library, and the client-side uses the socket.io-client library.

Redis

The application uses Redis for data storage and caching. The Redis instance is managed using Docker. Make sure you have Docker installed and running on your machine. The docker-compose.yml file in the root directory defines the services required for the application. You can start the services using the following command:

docker-compose up

Scripts

• npm run docker:compose: Starts all Dockerized services.
• npm run server:dev: Starts the backend in development mode (requires Redis running).
• npm run stop: Stops all Docker services.

Deployment

To deploy the application, you can use any cloud provider that supports Docker. Make sure to set the environment variables appropriately and configure the Docker services as needed.

Future Enhancements

• Add authentication and user management.
• Implement automated testing for the backend.
• Optimize Redis queries for better performance.
• Enhance API documentation using tools like Swagger.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.