University Platform

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| About the Project

University Platform is a modern open-source solution for creating a review aggregator for educational institutions. The project is developed as a scalable Full-stack application that allows students to share real learning experiences and applicants to choose their future place of study based on transparent ratings.

Key Features:

• Transparency: Collection of honest reviews and ratings.
• Centralization: A unified database of universities with easy search and tagging.
• Community: A role-based system for content administration and user verification via email.
• Security: Rate limiting and secure authentication to prevent abuse.

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| System Architecture

The project follows the principles of Separation of Concerns:

• Backend: Stateless REST API secured with JWT.
• Frontend: Reactive interface with optimistic updates for an instant response.
• Storage: Relational database (PostgreSQL) for data and In-memory storage (Redis) for caching and session management (e.g., password reset tokens).

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| Tech Stack

[ Backend ]

• Java 17 / Spring Boot 3.2.2
• Spring Security & JWT: Endpoint protection and session management.
• JPA / Hibernate: Data persistence with PostgreSQL.
• Flyway: Database schema versioning.
• Redis: Caching and temporary data storage.
• Resend SDK: Integration with email delivery service.
• Bucket4j: Rate limiting for API protection.

[ Frontend ]

• React 19 / TypeScript 5.9
• Vite 7: Ultra-fast build tool.
• Tailwind CSS 4: Modern utility-first CSS framework.
• Axios: API communication.
• Lucide React: Icon set.
• React Router 7: Client-side routing.

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| API Documentation (Swagger)

The backend automatically generates interactive API documentation. This allows you to test endpoints in real-time without third-party tools.

• Swagger UI: http://localhost:8080/swagger-ui.html
• OpenAPI JSON: http://localhost:8080/v3/api-docs

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| Configuration and .env

To run the project, you need to create .env files in the backend/ and frontend/ directories based on the provided .env.example files.

Backend Variables

Key	Purpose
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL address (e.g., Supabase or Neon)
DATABASE_USERNAME	DB Login
DATABASE_PASSWORD	DB Password
JWT_SECRET	Secret key (minimum 32 characters)
ALLOWED_ORIGINS	Frontend URL (e.g., https://your-app.netlify.app)
RESEND_API_KEY	API key from resend.com
REDIS_HOST	Redis address (e.g., Upstash)
REDIS_PORT	Redis port

Frontend Variables

Key	Purpose
VITE_API_URL	Full URL to your Backend API

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| Deployment

The project is fully ready for CI/CD deployment:

1. Backend: Render.com (automatic build via Dockerfile).
2. Frontend: Netlify.app (Build command: npm run build, Directory: dist).
3. Database: Supabase.com or Neon.tech (Managed PostgreSQL).
4. Redis: Upstash.com (Serverless Redis with RESP protocol support).

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| Installation and Startup

Building the Backend

cd backend
./gradlew build
./gradlew bootRun

Building the Frontend

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

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| License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.