Social Media Backend (C++)

A high-performance C++ backend for a social media application. Supports user authentication, tweeting, following, notifications, and image uploads using modern C++ libraries.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Tech Stack
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Configuration
• Running the Backend
• API Endpoints
• Contributing
• License

Features

• User registration, login, and profile management.
• Tweet creation, deletion, liking, and commenting.
• Follow/unfollow users with private account requests.
• Bookmark tweets and search users.
• Image uploads with resizing via Cloudinary.
• JWT-based authentication and MongoDB storage.

Tech Stack

• C++17: Core language.
• Crow: Web framework.
• mongocxx: MongoDB driver.
• nlohmann/json: JSON handling.
• jwt-cpp: JWT authentication.
• libvips: Image processing.
• cpp-httplib: HTTP client for Cloudinary.
• libcrypto++: Password hashing (bcrypt).
• CMake: Build system.
• vcpkg: Dependency management.

Prerequisites

• Windows 10/11 (adjustments needed for other platforms).
• MongoDB (local or Atlas).
• Cloudinary account for image uploads.
• Git, CMake, Visual Studio 2022 (C++ workload).
• ~25 GB free disk space.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/social-media-backend.git
   cd social-media-backend

2. Install tools:

   • Visual Studio 2022 with "Desktop development with C++".
   • CMake from cmake.org (add to PATH).
   • vcpkg:

     git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git C:\vcpkg
     cd C:\vcpkg
     .\bootstrap-vcpkg.bat
     .\vcpkg integrate install

3. Install dependencies:

   cd C:\vcpkg
   .\vcpkg install mongo-cxx-driver:x64-windows libvips:x64-windows curl:x64-windows cryptopp:x64-windows

   • Add header-only libraries:
     • Crow: crow_all.h in include/crow/.
     • nlohmann/json: json.hpp in include/nlohmann/.
     • jwt-cpp: Headers in include/jwt-cpp/.
     • cpp-httplib: httplib.h in include/httplib/.

4. Set up MongoDB:

   • Install MongoDB Community or use Atlas.
   • Create collections:

     use social_media
     db.createCollection("users")
     db.createCollection("tweets")
     db.createCollection("notifications")
     db.users.createIndex({ email: 1 }, { unique: true })
     db.users.createIndex({ username: 1 }, { unique: true })

Configuration

1. Edit config/config.env with your credentials:

   MONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://<user>:<password>@cluster0.rgjlc.mongodb.net/
   SECRET_KEY=your_jwt_secret
   CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name
   API_KEY=your_api_key
   API_SECRET=your_api_secret
   PORT=8082
   FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5173

2. Update src/utils/cloudinary.cpp with your Cloudinary upload_preset.
3. Set VITE_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:8082 in your frontend (e.g., React/Vite).

Running the Backend

1. Build the project:

   cd social-media-backend
   mkdir build
   cd build
   cmake -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64 -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=C:\vcpkg\scripts\buildsystems\vcpkg.cmake ..
   cmake --build . --config Release

2. Start the server:

   cd Release
   backend.exe

   • Runs on http://localhost:8082.

3. Test endpoints:

   curl -X POST http://localhost:8082/api/v1/user/register -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"name":"Test User","username":"testuser","email":"test@example.com","password":"password123"}'

API Endpoints

Endpoint	Method	Description	Authentication
/api/v1/user/register	POST	Register user	None
/api/v1/user/login	POST	Login with JWT	None
/api/v1/user/logout	GET	Logout	None
/api/v1/user/profile/<id>	GET	Get profile	JWT
/api/v1/user/edit/<id>	PUT	Update profile	JWT
/api/v1/user/follow/<id>	POST	Follow user	JWT
/api/v1/user/unfollow/<id>	POST	Unfollow user	JWT
/api/v1/user/bookmark/<id>	PUT	Bookmark tweet	JWT
/api/v1/user/search?query=<term>	GET	Search users	JWT
/api/v1/tweet/createtweet	POST	Create tweet	JWT
/api/v1/tweet/delete/<id>	DELETE	Delete tweet	JWT
/api/v1/tweet/like/<id>	PUT	Like/unlike tweet	JWT
/api/v1/tweet/comment/<id>	POST	Comment on tweet	JWT
/api/v1/tweet/alltweets/<id>	GET	Get user tweets	JWT
/api/v1/tweet/followingtweets/<id>	GET	Get following tweets	JWT
/api/v1/notification/followrequest/<id>	POST	Send follow request	JWT
/api/v1/notification/respond/<id>	POST	Respond to request	JWT
/api/v1/notification/<id>	GET	Get notifications	JWT

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a branch: git checkout -b feature/YourFeature.
3. Commit changes: git commit -m "Add YourFeature".
4. Push: git push origin feature/YourFeature.
5. Open a pull request.

License

MIT License