/warehouse-inventory-system

Primary LanguageJava

warehouse-inventory-system

Challenge

  • develop a light version Warehouse Inventory System
  • able to store product data via csv file consumption
  • able to store quantities of such products in different locations via csv file consumption
  • UI to show inventory level of given product code
  • able to transfer inventory from one location to another given amount of quantity and product code via UI
  • Java web application, any framework is fine
  • use a persistent database
  • complete in 3 days

Product attributes include: name, code, weight. E.g. “face mask”, “FM-01”, 100

Location is represented by the alphabet without spaces in between. E.g. “KLT”, “CWB”

Bonus

  • using javascript/typescript for UI
  • unit tests

Project should contain a README.md, including:

  1. how to compile, test, start the application
  2. write up a short daily, let us know how you learn / think / try / develop for each day.

How to run it

Requires the following tools

  • openJDK
  • yarn

Frontend

cd frontend
yarn install

// Go to localhost:3000 on browser

Backend

To start server at localhost:8080

cd backend
./mvnw spring-boot:run

To run unit tests

cd backend
./mvnw test

To compile a jar file

cd backend
./mvnw clean install
cd target
// jar file is here

Note: If using Windows, Use ./mvnw.cmd instead of ./mvnw on command prompt

Assumptions

Since the requirements are not perfectly specific, I have made the following assumptions based off my understanding of the use case:

  1. When moving inventory, if the weight at the from location is less than the specified, all inventory will be moved without throwing exceptions
  2. Products have unique codes but not unique names, therefore the system identify products solely by code. Names are updated when inventories are added.
  3. Web app will be used on mobile browsers, therefore autolayout is implemented.

Progress

Day 1

Design and draft system specifications

  • Database schema
  • API endpoints
  • Front end UI

Day 2

  • Learn how to setup Spring Boot project
  • Learn how to configure application to persist data on disk
  • Learn how to use Java
  • Use node to test backend implentations
  • Setup React frontend
  • Struggle with CORS issues
  • Make assumptions about requirements by thinking like the user

Day 3

  • Implement final API
  • Finalise frontend
  • Handle exceptions on both frontend and backend
  • Write down potential improvements
  • Write documentation
  • Baffled by how spring boot does not support validation of list of JSONs
  • Struggle with dependency injections for unit tests
  • Add backend unit tests
  • Gladly discovered GSON library
  • Add actuator for easier production management

Potential Improvements

If I were to push for a perfect solution, the following items are what I would work on if I had more time.

Major

  1. Use custom exception object from backend so frontend can show error messages from the server
  2. Ensure all endpoints conforms to HTTP status protocols
  3. Find a way to validate list of JSONs on server side to avoid internal server error
  4. Support pagination for GET product count API
  5. Write more unit test to cover all cases
  6. Use Kotlin
  7. Use typescript in frontend to improve code quality
  8. Logging
    1. all requests and responses on both frontend and backend
    2. all function calls
    3. all database operations

Minor

  1. Implement unit test on frontend
  2. Implement scheduled house cleaning for backend database in case of insufficent drive space
  3. Learn Java optional syntax for cleaner code
  4. Use MySQL as persistent data storage
  5. Use better git working flow such as git-flow for better version management
  6. Ensure all public and private access are appropriately assigned