📚 Academic Exchange Platform

A full-stack web application that allows students to buy, sell, or rent academic books and study materials. The platform connects sellers and buyers in a simple, secure, and affordable way.

🚀 Project Overview

Many students finish semesters with unused books, while others struggle to find affordable resources. Academic Exchange solves this by providing a centralized marketplace for educational materials.

Users can:

Register & log in securely

List books for sale or rent

Browse available listings

Contact sellers

Manage their own listings

🛠️ Tech Stack Frontend

HTML

CSS

JavaScript

Tailwind CSS (if used)

Backend

Node.js

Express.js

MySQL

JWT Authentication

bcrypt (password hashing)

dotenv (environment variables)

📂 Project Structure project-root/ │ ├── backend/ │ ├── config/ # Database configuration │ ├── controllers/ # Business logic │ ├── routes/ # API routes │ ├── middleware/ # Auth & error handling │ ├── models/ # Database queries │ ├── app.js # Express app │ └── server.js # Server entry point │ ├── frontend/ │ ├── index.html │ ├── css/ │ └── js/ │ ├── .env ├── package.json └── README.md

🔐 Authentication Flow

User passwords are hashed using bcrypt

Login returns a JWT token

Protected routes require valid JWT

Token is verified using middleware

🗄️ Database Design

Main tables:

users

listings

categories

orders (optional)

Features:

Foreign key relationships

Indexed columns for faster queries

Input validation before DB operations

⚙️ Installation & Setup 1️⃣ Clone the Repository git clone https://github.com/your-username/academic-exchange.git cd academic-exchange

2️⃣ Install Backend Dependencies cd backend npm install

3️⃣ Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file in backend/:

PORT=5000 DB_HOST=localhost DB_USER=root DB_PASSWORD=yourpassword DB_NAME=academic_exchange JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret

4️⃣ Start the Server npm start

Server will run at:

http://localhost:5000

📡 API Endpoints (Sample) Auth

POST /api/auth/register

POST /api/auth/login

Listings

GET /api/listings

POST /api/listings

PUT /api/listings/:id

DELETE /api/listings/:id

🧪 Testing

Use Postman to test APIs

Verify protected routes using JWT token

Test database constraints and validations

🐞 Known Issues

Some routes may have missing validations

UI improvements pending

Pagination & search optimization not implemented

🔮 Future Enhancements

Image uploads for listings

Search & filter functionality

Chat between buyer and seller

Admin dashboard

Deployment on cloud (AWS / Render)

👨‍💻 Contributors

Vamsi – Backend & Database

Friends / Team members – Feature contributions

📜 License

This project is created for educational purposes.