Building a URL shortening service series, Introduction.

Building a URL shortening service series, Introduction.

I Was mostly working on clients project since couples of months now, mostly as backend developer with Django framework, but in past i was writing Js code with React (before hooks comes out). One of my latest contract leads me to work with AWS and it's quite large, so i decided to train by practicing and obtain 2 certifications this year. My plan for this consist more in building various tools and host them using various AWS services.

What tool am i building now ?

My first tool is a URL shortener service like bitly. It is small enough to allow me to add new features at every working session and avoid discouragement and stop working.

Current tech stack:

  • Frontend: React.js (JavaScript)
  • Backend: Flask (Python)
  • Database: Redis & PostgreSQL (or another one)

What am i expecting to learn ?

  • React's hooks
  • React's new dev practice (it's been a long time i didn't touch that)
  • Flask, yes it feel like a shame to be a python backend dev without experience in Flask, but it's never too late to learn it.
  • Some basics UX design principles to build a usable UI
  • AWS cache service.
  • Small app deployment service with AWS (will need advices here)

How will i progress ?

As my plan is to work every night on one feature, i will have to made a small blog post about the feature in this series to show my progress and explain what i've learned, where i was stuck and what to do next.

What i can expect from you

Am open to new ideas about the project and even advices about everything you thing is necessary (from hosting service to project design).

Thank you, hope we will discover great things.