Mac Explore

Are you a first-year or someone new to campus? Do you have no idea where things are? Well, worry no longer because Mac Explore will connect you to all the local amenities around campus!

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Inspiration

Imagine it's your first day in university. You’re in a new town with new faces, new places, and new laces(it rhymes). You have absolutely no idea where anything is like restaurants, local attractions, or student housing opportunities. That is the reality that millions of freshmen face each and every year. Many like myself would have appreciated a resource that could recommend them the best local amenities around their campus from a student’s perspective. And this is what lead me to create…..Mac explore!!!

What it does

Mac Explore is an easy-to-use interface that connects students to local amenities near campus!

How I built it

  1. For the front end, I used React.js to allow for responsive web design and display the geographical data from the google maps API. In addition, I used material UI for the style sheets because it optimizes the development time in creating complex web designs.

  2. As for the backend I used Node.js as the runtime to make all the API calls in the background. The project made use of the google maps javascript and places search APIs from the Google Cloud Platform. In addition, I made use of RapidAPI databases to allow more streams of data to keep students informed.

  3. Finally, I used Netlify for deployment as it allows for fast and very responsive deployment of web applications.

Challenges I ran into

Since there were a lot of APIs at play it took up a lot of time reading through documentation and implementing them appropriately without breaking other parts of the codebase

What I learned

This project really taught me the nuances of web development ranging from the design process, reading documentation, and keeping everything connected. In addition, I also learned about security by understanding the mechanics of the .env file.

What's next for Mac Explore

For the future, I want to create a database that can allow for more personal reviews that come directly from the users. I believe this will allow for a more accurate understanding of the specific place and it will come from a student's perspective.

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