Database-agnostic React-based full-stack web application starter boilerplate

This is an opinionated web app boilerplate that makes use of:

• React on the client-side
• Somnus on the server-side
• TypeScript
• no database (*)

(*) it does come with a simple & stupid mock database client, exposed as simple JavaScript functions, which you can replace with your database integration of choice (NoSQL, SQL, Graph, whatever floating your boat)

Also, there is no session management, OAuth, user management, or anything beyond basic, stateless REST endpoint routing and React views. If you are looking for a one-size-fits-all or a full-feature starter pack, this boilerplate is not for you.

Why this boilerplate

• It stresses on minimalism and will not bundle more than the bare minimum needed to get your project up & running
• Thanks to its minimalistic nature, it can be used as a core of a (traditional) monolithic app, or easily containerized & deployed as a microservice running in your architecture of choice (Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, etc.)
• It is deploy-ready out-of-the-box e.g. on Heroku, and is especially suitable to create quick prototypes that are immediately shareable with the world

Why not this boilerplate

• If you wish to avoid React in your stack
• If you prefer the fuller-feature ExpressJS on the server-side
• If you need a "starter pack" with authentication, session management, database integration or database related features such as ORM, or otherwise any feature beyond basic, stateless REST endpoint routing & React views

How to start the dev mode

1. clone this project and cd into the project root directory
2. run npm install (it'll take a while to download all frontend & backend libraries & DevTools)
3. run npm run dev then follow the pointer from the console log

Changes to the client-side or server-side code will be picked up automatically

How to generate the production build

NODE_ENV=production npm run build

When the script finishes, the server app should be available at build/server/main.js, which can be ran with node itself, or a Node.js-supported app-server / process-manager of choice (e.g. pm2, NGINX Unit, etc.)

How to test

From the project root directory, run:

npm test

Environment Variables

• PORT: if set, the app will be available on this port number; otherwise, a random port will be chosen

Caveats / TODOs

• Source mapping doesn't work yet for the server app, and thus JS error logs are not pointing to the desirable line/column in the .ts files
• The build is not yet optimized (output sizes larger than they could be in real production setups) (#9)
• There is no example test suite yet for the backend part (REST endpoints)
• The dev flow (npm run dev) has not been tested on platforms other than MacOS