TaskFlow: A Real-Time Task Management Application

A step-by-step guide to building a collaborative task management platform with real-time updates.

1. Initial Setup

• [ ] Create project directories (client and server)
• [ ] Initialize package.json in both directories
• [ ] Set up Git repository
• [ ] Install core dependencies

2. Backend Development

# Core packages
npm init -y
npm i express mongoose dotenv cors socket.io jsonwebtoken bcryptjs

3. Backend Structure

server/
├── config/
│   └── db.js             # MongoDB connection
├── models/
│   ├── User.js           # name, email, password, teams[]
│   ├── Team.js           # name, description, owner, members[]
│   └── Task.js           # title, description, status, assignee, teamId, dueDate
├── routes/
│   ├── auth.js           # /register, /login 
│   ├── teams.js          # CRUD + member management
│   └── tasks.js          # CRUD + status/assignment updates
├── middleware/
│   ├── auth.js           # JWT verification
│   └── validation.js     # Request validation
├── socket/
│   ├── socketManager.js  # Main socket setup
│   ├── taskEvents.js     # task_created, task_updated etc
│   ├── teamEvents.js     # join_team, leave_team
│   └── userEvents.js     # user_active, user_status
├── utils/
│   ├── jwt.js           # Token generation/validation
│   └── errorHandler.js  # Global error handling
└── server.js            # Express + Socket.io setup

4. Frontend Setup

npx create-react-app client
cd client
npm i @reduxjs/toolkit react-redux axios socket.io-client react-beautiful-dnd tailwindcss

5. Frontend Structure

client/
├── src/
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── Auth/
│   │   │   ├── Login.jsx
│   │   │   └── Register.jsx
│   │   ├── Dashboard/
│   │   │   ├── Header.jsx
│   │   │   └── Sidebar.jsx 
│   │   ├── Tasks/
│   │   │   ├── TaskBoard.jsx        # Main drag-drop board
│   │   │   ├── TaskCard.jsx         # Individual task
│   │   │   ├── TaskForm.jsx         # Create/edit form
│   │   │   └── TaskColumn.jsx       # Status column
│   │   └── Teams/
│   │       ├── TeamList.jsx
│   │       ├── TeamForm.jsx
│   │       └── MemberList.jsx
│   ├── redux/
│   │   ├── store.js
│   │   └── slices/
│   │       ├── authSlice.js         # Auth state
│   │       ├── teamSlice.js         # Teams CRUD
│   │       ├── taskSlice.js         # Tasks + DnD
│   │       └── socketSlice.js       # Real-time state
│   ├── utils/
│   │   ├── api.js                   # Axios setup
│   │   ├── socket.js                # Socket.io setup
│   │   └── constants.js             # App constants
│   ├── hooks/
│   │   ├── useSocket.js             # Socket hooks
│   │   └── useAuth.js               # Auth hooks
│   ├── context/
│   │   └── SocketContext.jsx        # Socket provider
│   ├── styles/
│   │   └── index.css                # Tailwind imports
│   └── App.jsx                      # Routes setup

6. Implementation Order

Backend:

• [ ] Set up Express server
• [ ] Configure MongoDB connection