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Makechi™
Makechi™

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My Journey Building an Inventory Management System as a Beginner Developer

As a budding software developer, I recently embarked on creating a simple Inventory Management System. It has been a rewarding journey of learning and overcoming challenges. In this post, I’ll share why I started this project, the technologies I used, the features I implemented, and the lessons I’ve learned so far.

Why I Started

I wanted to learn more about backend development, particularly with Spring Boot. Building an IMS allowed me to explore concepts like CRUD operations, role-based authentication, and even pagination. It also aligned with my goal of creating software that solves real-world problems.

Technologies I Used

For this project, I used:

  • Spring Boot: To build the backend API.
  • JavaFX (initially): For the user interface. I later switched to Next.js for the web interface.
  • MongoDB: For data storage.

Features Implemented

Here are some of the features I’ve built so far:

  1. Basic Search: Users can search for items by various properties.

  2. Role-Based Authentication: Different roles (e.g., Admin, User) have different access levels.

  3. Pagination and Sorting: To make managing a large number of items easier.

  4. Responsive UI: A clean, mobile-friendly interface using Tailwind CSS.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

  • Start Small: Initially, I aimed to implement everything at once, but breaking it into smaller tasks made the process more manageable.

  • Switching Technologies: Moving from JavaFX to Next.js was daunting but taught me the value of adaptability.

  • Search Functionality: Adding query parameters for filtering results was trickier than I expected but immensely rewarding.

What’s Next?

I’m excited to continue improving the IMS by adding advanced features like data visualization and multi-location support.

Conclusion:

This project has been a significant stepping stone in my journey as a developer. If you’re a beginner like me, I highly recommend starting a project that excites you—it’s the best way to learn!

Have questions or feedback? Let’s connect in the comments or connect with Me:

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