codac

codac is the comprehensive learning management system and community platform designed specifically for students and alumni of Code Academy Berlin. Beyond facilitating learning and community building, codac serves as a practical training ground for beginner developers to learn open source development practices and contribute to real-world projects.

🎯 Mission

codac empowers Code Academy Berlin students and alumni to learn, collaborate, and grow together through a modern, integrated platform that combines educational content delivery with vibrant community features. Additionally, codac provides hands-on experience in open source development, teaching students how to contribute to collaborative projects, use version control effectively, and participate in the global developer community.

📋 Table of Contents

• 🎓 Learning Open Source Development
• ✅ Implemented Features
• 🚧 Work in Progress
• 🗺️ Roadmap
• 🛠 Tech Stack
• 🚀 Quick Start
• 🤝 Contributing
• 🔄 How to Fork & Contribute

🎓 Learning Open Source Development

codac is designed to be a beginner-friendly project where students can learn essential open source development skills:

What You'll Learn

• Git & GitHub Workflow - Master version control, branching, and collaboration
• Code Review Process - Learn how to give and receive constructive feedback
• Issue Management - Understand how open source projects are organized and tracked
• Documentation - Practice writing clear, helpful documentation
• Testing - Learn to write and run tests for your contributions
• Community Collaboration - Experience working with a diverse group of developers

Why codac is Perfect for Learning

• Real-world codebase with modern technologies and best practices
• Welcoming community that supports beginners and celebrates learning
• Well-documented issues with clear requirements and guidance
• Mentorship opportunities from experienced contributors
• Gradual complexity - start small and work up to larger features
• Educational mission - everyone understands you're here to learn

Getting Started with Open Source

Never contributed to open source before? That's exactly why we're here! Check out our detailed contribution guide below to learn the complete workflow step by step.

✅ Implemented Features

🏗️ Foundation & Infrastructure

• Project Structure - Next.js 15 with App Router, TypeScript, and modern tooling
• Authentication System - NextAuth.js integration with email/password and database sessions
• Database Schema - Complete Drizzle ORM schema with PostgreSQL for all domain entities
• Admin Dashboard - Basic admin interface with metrics, activity feed, and quick actions
• Rich Content Editor - Plate.js integration for creating and editing educational content
• UI Components - Shadcn/UI component library with Tailwind CSS styling
• Navigation Structure - Sidebar navigation with role-based menu items
• TypeScript Types - Comprehensive type definitions for all domain objects
• Testing Setup - Jest for unit testing and Playwright for end-to-end testing
• Code Quality - Biome for formatting and linting with modern standards

👤 User Management (Basic)

• User Roles - Database support for Students, Alumni, Mentors, Instructors, and Admins
• User Profiles - Database schema for comprehensive user profiles with social links
• Authentication - Secure login/logout with session management

📊 Database Foundation

• Cohort Management - Database tables for organizing student groups
• Course Structure - Database schema for courses, lessons, and educational content
• Assignment System - Database tables for assignments, submissions, and grading
• Community Posts - Database schema for posts, comments, and discussions
• Achievement System - Database tables for badges, points, and gamification
• Mentorship Framework - Database schema for mentor-mentee relationships

🚧 Work in Progress

📚 Learning Management System

• Course Creation - Interface for instructors to create and manage courses
• Assignment Management - Tools for creating, distributing, and grading assignments
• Progress Tracking - Student dashboard showing learning progress and completion rates
• Resource Library - File upload and management for learning materials

👥 Community Platform

• User Directory - Browse and search functionality for students and alumni
• Discussion System - Threaded discussions with real-time updates
• Community Posts - Create, edit, and interact with community content
• Profile Management - Complete user profile editing and customization

🔐 Role-Based Features

• Instructor Tools - Course management and student progress monitoring
• Student Dashboard - Personalized learning dashboard with assignments and progress
• Admin Panel - Complete administration tools for managing users, courses, and content

🗺️ Roadmap

🤝 Mentorship & Career Support

• Mentor Matching Algorithm - AI-powered matching between students and alumni mentors
• Job Board Integration - Partner company job postings and application tracking
• Career Resources - Interview preparation materials and resume building tools
• Portfolio Management - Showcase student work and track career progression
• Networking Events - Event management and RSVP system for community meetups

🏆 Advanced Features

• Gamification Engine - Points, leaderboards, and achievement notifications
• Learning Analytics - Advanced insights into learning patterns and performance
• Mobile Application - React Native app for iOS and Android
• Video Integration - Live streaming and recorded video lessons
• Certificate System - Digital certificates and blockchain verification
• API Integration - Third-party integrations (GitHub, LinkedIn, Slack)

🛠 Tech Stack

• Next.js 15 for performance and scalability.
• Auth.js for authentication.
• Drizzle ORM for type-safe database management.
• PostgreSQL for reliable and scalable database solutions.
• Shadcn/UI for beautiful, customizable components.
• Biome for Formatting and Linting
• Jest A testing framework for ensuring your app works as expected.
• Playwright End to end A testing framework for ensuring your app works as expected.
• React Hook Form: A library for managing form state and validation in React applications
• Zod: A TypeScript-first schema declaration and validation library
• Nuqs: Type-safe URL state management
• Platejs Rich Content Editor - for creating engaging educational content with advanced formatting, media embedding, and collaborative editing capabilities
• Document Management - Comprehensive document creation, editing, and sharing system with version control and real-time collaboration

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed on your system:

• Node.js (v20 or higher) - Download here
• pnpm - Install with npm install -g pnpm
• Git - Download here
• PostgreSQL - Download here

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/CodeAcademyBerlin/codac.git
   cd codac

2. Install dependencies

   pnpm install

3. Set up environment variables

   cp .env.example .env.local

   Then edit .env.local with your configuration:

   # Database
   POSTGRES_URL="postgresql://username:password@localhost:5432/codac"
   
   # NextAuth
   NEXTAUTH_SECRET="your-nextauth-secret"
   NEXTAUTH_URL="http://localhost:3000"
   

4. Set up the database

   pnpm db:push

5. Start the development server

   pnpm dev

6. Open your browser Navigate to http://localhost:3000 to see the application running!

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions from developers of all skill levels! Whether you're a complete beginner or experienced developer, there are many ways to help improve codac while learning valuable skills.

Code review is a collaborative process - don't take feedback personally!

• Address comments promptly: Make requested changes or ask for clarification
• Update your branch: Push new commits to address feedback
• Engage in discussion: Ask questions, explain your approach, learn from others

# Make changes based on feedback
git add .
git commit -m "Address code review feedback

- Extract validation logic into separate function
- Add error handling for edge cases
- Update tests to cover new scenarios"
git push origin feature/your-feature-name

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.