SETUP.md

Local Repository Setup/Reset

Overview

The following documents assumes that you have properly cloned the remote repository (GitHub Repo) into your Computer.
If you are using WSL, refer to WSL_AND_GITHUB_DESKTOP.md

Linux & MacOS (Using Homebrew) Commands for Setup

One-time Global Install for the MERN Stack on Computer:

1. Install Node Version Manager (Any Version for now)

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.1/install.sh | bash

2. Aftwerwards, restart the terminal to let the install.sh for NVM to get set up to install & use the latest Node Version Manager

nvm install --lts
nvm use --lts

• Afterwards, nvm is now installed in your computer globally. Additionally, nvm will also install all the necessary programs for a MERN stack

3. Install PNPM globally using npm (Should be installed by nvm)

npm install -g pnpm

• To check to see if pnpm exists, use:

pnpm --version

Running/Building the Project:

Firstly, we will build the project using turbo. Turbo is nice since it does the following:

• Analyze all dependencies within the project and install and update all necessary packages and dependencies.
• Caches unmodified dependencies to create a fast build time to launch frontend and backend at the same time.

(In the below example, “LargeProject” is the local repository’s name)
We run “pnpm run dev” to be able to install pnpm and turbo inside the directory:

cd LargeProject
pnpm run dev
pnpm turbo build

Afterwards, Turbo will now be able to run optimized to start the program at a fast speed.
To run the program, just run the following:

cd LargeProject
pnpm turbo dev

Adding .env files and .gitignore files

This file has the file known as .gitignore. This file is used to tell Git what to ignore when commits are made. If you look at the .gitignore file in the root directory of the repo, you can see that there is a list of files that we ignore when we commit to GitHub.
That is why you don’t see node_modules in GitHub and other setup folders that we don’t need everyone sharing.

Using the command “pnpm turbo build” or “pnpm turbo dev” will mostly add all of the setup files that the project needs to be able to run everything.
However, .env files (Environment Files) are ignored.

Since GitHub is open to the public, we can’t ensure that our sensitive information/passwords can be kept safe when we upload the information to the Web.

That is why we are using .env files that are ignored to keep sensitive data from being leaked (Also some services will disable your account if they see their keys/passwords on GitHub)

Since packages/api/package.json is currently the the one with “dotenv” within its dependencies,
So in packages/api create an .env file (So server.js can access the important information) based off .env.example and credentials found in discord.

Installing Prettier & ESLint

This Project will be using Prettier & ESLint to ensure proper formating and coding style.
This is beneficial since it will:

• Ensure that Style is Consistent
• Flag Poor Coding Practices to Fix
• Help Flag Bug's Potential Issues
• Flag Reduntant Code
• Ensure Better Readability

1. Install Prettier & ESLint from Visual Studio Code Extensions
   
2. Restart Visual Studio by either closing and reopening or by typing ">reload" on VSCode

Afterwards:

• Prettier will Auto Format after you Save the File
• ESLint will display warnings of poor coding style
  
  Note: ESLint has been configured to just act as a helper, meaning that anything that ESLint flagges is just a suggestion. This is due to the fact that this project is done by people who are still learning how to collaborate.
  If an ESLint gives an error instead of a warning, please notify Ricky to ensure that Pull Requests are able to be done without any failed test