LearnTogether

Modular LMS platform designed for the next generation of online learning.
note: for how to contribute to this project, see CONTRIBUTING.md

Prereqs

Install Homebrew, Node.js, Bower, Nodemon

$ ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
$ brew install node
$ npm install -g bower
$ npm install -g nodemon

Install PostgreSQL
Postgres.app (PG server) + add CLI tools
PG Commander (GUI client)

Makefile

Use the Make functions:
make install: download dependencies, populate database
make start: start server listening on port 4000
make cleanup: tear down database, delete dependencies, flush cache

TODO

Node

• better error handling
• even better error handling
• should we https? yes
• dave's "graceful shutdown"
• what happened to promises they'll come when they're needed
• what is up with favicon
• right now routers are peppered with "users.requiresLogin"
  • would it be better to separate into "public" & "secure" folders?
  • yes it would! the switch has been made

Angular

• install in project
• are we using bower?

General

• testing
• should we use grunt/gulp to minify/concat stuff?
• how to names (first, middle, last, full, display)

Notes

Node

• three node apps served as the main inspiration
  • Dave's 343 app @ https://bitbucket.org/drstearns/info343/src
  • MEAN.JS starter app @ http://meanjs.org/
  • generator-angular-fullstack @ https://github.com/DaftMonk/generator-angular-fullstack
• most of the magic starts in a few files and branches out from there:
  • server/server.js: start the node server
  • server/config/express.js: setup express middleware
• any folder with index.js is owned by index.js
  • require('./path/to/folder'); will execute index.js
  • index.js can be expected to handle all other files in folder
  • (currently index.js can also be expected to handle all folders within too, but that's open to debate)
• "Middleware" is used by the Express request handling chain
  • normal middleware looks like function (req, res, next) { ... }
  • continue chain by calling next();
  • "throw" error by passing anything to next (like next(err);)
  • error handline middleware has 4 arguments instead of three
    • function (err, req, res, next) { ... }
    • Express is chain, so "thrown" error hits whatever error handler follows next in the chain
    • Error handler can do three things:
      • continue normal chain with next();
      • pass to next error handler with next(err);
      • halt request chain by sending response (like res.json(obj);)
• "Endpoints" are used to handle http requests
  • look like function (req, res) { ... }
  • method is decided by router
    • GET: router.get('/thing', thing.anEndpointFunction)
    • POST: router.post('/thing', thing.anotherEndpointFunction)