It Write Up Assignment Sample
Q1:
Answer :1. System Overview:
The application will be built using the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. This design pattern will separate concerns in the application, making it easier to maintain and scale in the future.
- Model: Represents the data and business logic. It will interact with the database to store and retrieve data, such as book details, user information, and orders.
- View: Responsible for rendering the user interface. It will dynamically generate HTML pages using templates.
- Controller: Handles user input and updates the Model and View accordingly. It will process user requests, perform necessary operations, and render the appropriate views.
We will use JavaScript (with React or Vue.js for the frontend) for dynamic and responsive content, and Node.js with Express for the backend. The MySQL database will store information about users, books, orders, and transactions.
2. Database Schema Design:
We need a database schema that can support books, users, orders, and transactions. Here’s a basic schema:
Users Table: Stores user information.
CREATE TABLE users (
user_id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
username VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
password_hash VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
email VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
address TEXT,
is_admin BOOLEAN DEFAULT FALSE
);
Books Table: Stores book details.
CREATE TABLE books (
book_id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
title VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
author VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
category VARCHAR(255),
price DECIMAL(10, 2) NOT NULL,
description TEXT,
stock_quantity INT NOT NULL
);
Orders Table: Stores order details.
CREATE TABLE orders (
order_id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
user_id INT,
order_date TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
total_amount DECIMAL(10, 2) NOT NULL,
status VARCHAR(50) DEFAULT 'Pending',
FOREIGN KEY (user_id) REFERENCES users(user_id)
);
Order_Items Table: Stores items in each order.
CREATE TABLE order_items (
order_item_id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
order_id INT,
book_id INT,
quantity INT,
price DECIMAL(10, 2),
FOREIGN KEY (order_id) REFERENCES orders(order_id),
FOREIGN KEY (book_id) REFERENCES books(book_id)
);
3. Frontend Architecture (React or Vue.js):
The frontend will consist of the following components:
- Book Catalog: A grid of books that displays the title, author, and price, and allows users to add books to the shopping cart.
- Search Component: A search bar that allows users to filter books by title, author, or category.
- Shopping Cart: A page that displays items in the user's cart, including options to remove items, change quantities, and proceed to checkout.
- Checkout Page: A form where users can input their shipping information and payment method. It will also show the order summary and the final price.
- Admin Dashboard: A protected area where administrators can manage inventory, view and update orders, and generate sales reports.
We’ll use React with Redux for state management to maintain the global application state (e.g., cart contents, user authentication status).
4. Backend Architecture (Node.js + Express):
The backend will handle requests and manage communication with the database. The backend will be responsible for:
- User Authentication: Using JWT (JSON Web Tokens) for stateless authentication. Users will register, log in, and receive an authentication token to be used in subsequent requests.
- CRUD Operations for Books: Admins will be able to add, edit, and delete books via RESTful APIs. Regular users can only view the book catalog.
- Order Management: Users can create and view orders, while admins can view, update, and mark orders as shipped.
- Sales Reporting: Admins can generate reports showing total revenue, number of orders, and sales history.
Example API Endpoints:
- POST /api/auth/register: Registers a new user.
- POST /api/auth/login: Logs a user in and returns a JWT token.
- GET /api/books: Fetches all books.
- POST /api/cart: Adds an item to the cart.
- POST /api/order: Creates a new order (checkout).
- PUT /api/admin/book/:id: Admin can edit book details.
- GET /api/admin/orders: Admin can view all orders.
5. Security Best Practices:
To protect the system from common web vulnerabilities, we will employ several security measures:
- SQL Injection Protection: Use parameterized queries or an ORM (Object-Relational Mapper) like Sequelize to avoid raw SQL queries that are vulnerable to injection.
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): Ensure that user input is sanitized and validated. Use libraries like DOMPurify to clean user input before rendering.
- Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF): Implement CSRF tokens in forms to ensure that requests come from the legitimate user.
- Password Hashing: Use bcrypt to hash user passwords before storing them in the database.
- JWT for Authentication: Use JWT tokens for stateless authentication, ensuring secure user sessions.
- HTTPS: Ensure all communication between the client and server is encrypted using SSL/TLS (HTTPS).
6. Performance Optimization:
To ensure the web application performs well under high traffic, we will consider the following optimizations:
- Caching: Cache frequently accessed data, such as the book catalog, using Redis or memcached to reduce database load and improve response times.
- Database Indexing: Index columns frequently used in search queries, such as title, author, and category, to speed up search operations.
- Load Balancing: Use a load balancer to distribute traffic evenly across multiple servers if the traffic volume increases significantly.
- Asynchronous Processing: For heavy tasks like order processing or report generation, use background jobs with RabbitMQ or Bull to offload work from the main request/response cycle.
7. Scalability Considerations:
To ensure the application can handle future growth, the following strategies will be implemented:
- Microservices Architecture: In the future, if the app grows, we can transition to a microservices architecture where each part of the application (e.g., inventory management, order processing, user authentication) is handled by separate services, making the system more scalable and easier to maintain.
- Database Sharding: For very large datasets, we can shard the database (i.e., split the data across multiple database instances) to improve performance.
- Horizontal Scaling: As the number of users and traffic increases, we can scale the application horizontally by adding more application servers.
Conclusion:
This web application architecture uses a modern, secure, and scalable approach to meet the needs of the bookstore. The MVC architecture ensures clean separation of concerns, while React and Node.js enable efficient client-server communication. The database schema supports efficient search, order management, and reporting. Security best practices, such as JWT authentication and SQL injection protection, safeguard user data and transactions. With the added optimizations and scalability measures, the application will be able to handle increasing traffic and grow with the business.