MERN Exercise Tracker

Project Overview: I used the MERN stack to create a Single Page Application (SPA) that tracked exercises completed by a user. For the frontend, I used React to build the UI. On the backend, I wrote a REST API using Node.js and Express to handle the server-side logic. MongoDB was my choice for persistence, storing user data and exercise records.

Setting Up the Project: I started by creating a new project directory and set up the structure for both the frontend and backend.

Backend Development: I initialized a Node.js project in the backend directory and installed dependencies like Express for the server framework, Mongoose for MongoDB interactions, and other essentials.

Frontend Development: I used npm create vite@latest exercises_ui -- --template react to quickly set up my React project. This provided the foundation for building the user interface.

Connecting the Frontend and Backend: I made sure that my React app could communicate with the Express server by setting up appropriate API routes and handling requests to the backend.

Persisting Data: MongoDB handled data storage. I set up schemas and models to manage exercise records and user information.

How to Run the App:

1. Go to the root directory of the REST API, run npm install and then npm start to start the REST API and test it.

2. Go to the root directory of the React app, run npm install and then npm run dev to start the React app and test it.