🚀 NextStep - ICT Career Pathway Discovery Platform

http://nextstep-frontend-tharindu.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/

🎯 Empowering students to discover their perfect ICT career path

A modern full-stack application connecting students with industry experts for career guidance and skill development

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📋 Table of Contents

• ✨ Features
• 🏗️ Tech Stack
• 🚀 Quick Start
• 📁 Project Structure
• 🔧 Development Setup
• 📚 API Documentation
• 🤝 Contributing
• 📄 License

✨ Features

For Students

• 🎓 Smart Career Assessment - AI-powered career path recommendations
• 📊 Skill Tracking - Monitor your learning progress and achievements
• 🏆 Gamification - Earn points, level up, and compete on leaderboards
• 💼 Industry Connections - Connect with real industry professionals
• 📚 Curated Learning - Access to relevant courses and resources

For Industry Experts

• 👥 Student Discovery - Find and mentor promising students
• 🎯 Talent Pipeline - Build relationships with future employees
• 📈 Impact Tracking - See your influence on student career paths
• 🌟 Professional Branding - Showcase your expertise and company

Platform Features

• 🔐 Secure Authentication - JWT-based user authentication
• 📱 Responsive Design - Works perfectly on all devices
• ⚡ Fast Performance - Optimized with modern web technologies
• 🔄 Real-time Updates - Live data synchronization
• 📖 API Documentation - Comprehensive Swagger documentation

🏗️ Tech Stack

Backend

• Framework: ASP.NET Core 9.0
• Database: SQLite with Entity Framework Core
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
• Documentation: Swagger/OpenAPI
• Architecture: Clean Architecture with Dependency Injection

Frontend

• Framework: React 18 with TypeScript
• Build Tool: Vite (Lightning fast HMR)
• UI Framework: Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui components
• State Management: React Context + TanStack Query
• Routing: React Router v6
• HTTP Client: Native Fetch API

Development Tools

• Package Manager: npm
• Code Quality: ESLint + Prettier
• Version Control: Git with conventional commits
• API Testing: Swagger UI + REST Client

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher) - Download here
• .NET SDK (v9.0 or higher) - Download here
• Git - Download here

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Team-BISHOP/nextstep.git
cd nextstep

2. Backend Setup

# Navigate to backend directory
cd backend

# Restore dependencies
dotnet restore

# Start the backend server
dotnet run

Backend will be available at:

• API: https://localhost:7010
• Swagger Docs: https://localhost:7010/swagger

3. Frontend Setup

# Navigate to frontend directory (in a new terminal)
cd frontend

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start the development server
npm run dev

Frontend will be available at:

• App: http://localhost:8080

4. Test the Connection

1. Visit http://localhost:8080/auth
2. Create a new account (Student or Industry Expert)
3. Login with your credentials
4. Explore the platform!

5. Deployment Overview

💠 What Each Environment Uses:

Environment	Web Server	Config File	Status
S3 Deployment	AWS S3 Static Hosting	S3 website config	✅ Working
Docker Compose	nginx	🟩 nginx.conf	✅ Now Fixed
Local Dev	Vite dev server	⚡ vite.config.ts	✅ Working

🔧 Development Setup

Environment Variables

Backend (backend/appsettings.Development.json)

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "Data Source=nextstep_dev.db"
  },
  "JwtSettings": {
    "SecretKey": "your-super-secret-key-at-least-32-characters",
    "Issuer": "NextStepAPI",
    "Audience": "NextStepClient",
    "ExpiryInHours": 24
  }
}

Frontend (frontend/.env)

VITE_API_URL=https://localhost:7010/api

Development Commands

Backend

# Restore dependencies
dotnet restore

# Run in development mode
dotnet run

# Run with hot reload
dotnet watch run

# Install CLI tool for Entity Framework Core
dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

# Create new migration
dotnet ef migrations add MigrationName --output-dir Data/Migrations

# Update database
dotnet ef database update

# Run tests
dotnet test

Frontend

# Start development server
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build

# Preview production build
npm run preview

# Run linting
npm run lint

# Fix linting issues
npm run lint:fix

📚 API Documentation

🛡️ Authentication Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/Auth/register	Create new user account
POST	/api/Auth/login	Authenticate user

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📘 Course Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/Courses	Get all courses
GET	/api/Courses/{courseId}	Get course by ID
POST	/api/Courses/{courseId}/enroll	Enroll in a course
PUT	/api/Courses/{courseId}/progress	Update progress in a course
POST	/api/Courses/{courseId}/complete	Mark course as complete

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🏆 Leaderboard Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/Leaderboard	Get global leaderboard
GET	/api/Leaderboard/my-rank	Get logged-in user's rank

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🙍‍♂️ Profile Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/Profiles/me	Get your profile
PUT	/api/Profiles/me	Update your profile
GET	/api/Profiles/{userId}/public	Get public profile of a user
GET	/api/Profiles/students	Get list of student profiles

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📂 Project Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/Projects	Get all projects
POST	/api/Projects	Create new project
GET	/api/Projects/{projectId}	Get project by ID
PUT	/api/Projects/{projectId}	Update project by ID
DELETE	/api/Projects/{projectId}	Delete project by ID

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📨 Subscription Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/Subscription/subscribe	Subscribe to a service
POST	/api/Subscription/unsubscribe	Unsubscribe from a service

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Interactive Documentation

Visit https://localhost:7010/swagger while the backend is running to explore the full Swagger-based API documentation.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community!

Code Style

• Backend: Follow C# coding conventions
• Frontend: ESLint + Prettier configurations included
• Database: Use Entity Framework migrations for schema changes

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

CORS Errors

Access to fetch has been blocked by CORS policy

Solution: Ensure backend is running and CORS is configured for your frontend URL.

Database Not Found

SQLite Error 1: 'no such table: Users'

Solution: Run dotnet ef database update in the backend directory.

Port Already in Use

Failed to bind to address https://localhost:7010

Solution: Kill the process using the port or change the port in launchSettings.json.

🎯 Roadmap

Phase 1 (Current) ✅

• User authentication system
• Basic frontend structure
• API documentation

Phase 2 (In Progress) 🚧

• User profile management
• Career assessment quiz
• Student-expert matching

Phase 3 (Planned) 📋

• Learning path recommendations
• Progress tracking
• Gamification system
• Real-time chat
• Mobile app

📄 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🌟 Acknowledgments

• shadcn/ui - Beautiful UI components
• Tailwind CSS - Utility-first CSS framework
• ASP.NET Core - High-performance web framework
• React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

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Made with ❤️ by the NextStep Team

⭐ Star us on GitHub if this project helped you!

📞 Contact

• Issues: https://github.com/Team-BISHOP/nextstep/issues

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