Today’s Offer Enroll today and get access to premium content.
App Store Google Play
Blog article

Building a Real-Time Collaborative Task Manager with MERN Stack

Explore a trending full-stack project idea: a real-time collaborative task manager using the MERN stack. Ideal for developers looking to enhance their skills.

Building a Real-Time Collaborative Task Manager with MERN Stack

Explore a trending full-stack project idea: a real-time collaborative task manager using the MERN stack. Ideal for developers looking to enhance their skills.

Building a Real-Time Collaborative Task Manager with MERN Stack

In today's fast-paced development environment, collaboration tools are more important than ever. A real-time collaborative task manager is a trending full-stack project idea that can help developers sharpen their skills while creating a valuable application. In this blog post, we will explore how to build this project using the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, and Node.js).

Project Overview

The task manager will allow users to create, update, and delete tasks in real-time, enabling seamless collaboration between team members. Using WebSocket for real-time communication will ensure that all users see the latest changes instantly.

Technologies Used

  • MongoDB: A NoSQL database to store tasks and user data.
  • Express.js: A web application framework for Node.js to set up the server.
  • React.js: A front-end library for building user interfaces.
  • Node.js: JavaScript runtime to run server-side code.
  • Socket.io: A library for enabling real-time communication.

Getting Started

To kick off the project, make sure you have Node.js and MongoDB installed on your machine. Follow the steps below:

  1. Set up a new directory for your project.
  2. Initialize a new Node.js application with npm init -y.
  3. Install the necessary dependencies:
  4. npm install express mongoose socket.io cors
  5. Create a new React app using npx create-react-app client.

Backend Development

In the backend, we will create an Express server that connects to MongoDB and handles API requests for managing tasks.

Setting Up Express and Mongoose

Create a new file named server.js and set up the basic server:

const express = require('express');
const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const http = require('http');
const socketIo = require('socket.io');
const cors = require('cors');

const app = express();
const server = http.createServer(app);
const io = socketIo(server);
app.use(cors());

mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost/taskmanager', { useNewUrlParser: true, useUnifiedTopology: true });

server.listen(5000, () => {
    console.log('Server is running on port 5000');
});

Creating the Task Model

Create a models directory and a file named Task.js to define your task schema:

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const TaskSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
    title: { type: String, required: true },
    completed: { type: Boolean, default: false },
    createdAt: { type: Date, default: Date.now }
});

module.exports = mongoose.model('Task', TaskSchema);

Frontend Development

Now, let's move on to the front end. Navigate into the client directory and start building your React application.

Setting Up React Components

Create a list of components such as TaskList, TaskItem, and AddTask. Use Axios to interact with the backend API.

import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import axios from 'axios';

const TaskList = () => {
    const [tasks, setTasks] = useState([]);

    useEffect(() => {
        const fetchTasks = async () => {
            const res = await axios.get('http://localhost:5000/api/tasks');
            setTasks(res.data);
        };
        fetchTasks();
    }, []);

    return (
        
    {tasks.map(task => ())}
); };

Real-Time Collaboration with Socket.io

Integrate Socket.io into both the server and client to handle real-time updates.

Updating the Server

io.on('connection', (socket) => {
    console.log('A user connected');
    socket.on('taskAdded', (task) => {
        io.emit('taskAdded', task);
    });
});

Updating the Client

import io from 'socket.io-client';
const socket = io('http://localhost:5000');

useEffect(() => {
    socket.on('taskAdded', (task) => {
        setTasks(prevTasks => [...prevTasks, task]);
    });
}, []);

Conclusion

Building a real-time collaborative task manager is an excellent project for developers looking to enhance their full-stack skills. By using the MERN stack and integrating real-time features, you’ll create a powerful tool that can benefit teams and improve productivity. Start coding today and take your skills to the next level!

Share this article

If it helped you, it will help others too.

Keep reading

View all posts
Join the conversation 0 comments

Share your thoughts

We love hearing real-world perspectives—drop a question, share an insight, or start a debate.

No comments yet

Be the person who gets the conversation rolling. We read every message!

Leave a thoughtful comment

Add value for other readers. Be kind, stay on topic, and keep it constructive.