- Backend Developer: Responsible for implementing API endpoints, database schemas, and business logic.
- Database Administrator: Manages database design, indexing, and optimizations.
- DevOps Engineer: Handles deployment, monitoring, and scaling of the backend services.
- QA Engineer: Ensures the backend functionalities are thoroughly tested and meet quality standards.
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Django A high-level Python web framework used for building the RESTful API.
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Django REST Framework Provides tools for creating and managing RESTful APIs.
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PostgreSQL A powerful relational database used for data storage.
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GraphQL Allows for flexible and efficient querying of data.
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Celery For handling asynchronous tasks such as sending notifications or processing payments.
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Redis Used for caching and session management
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Docker Containerization tool for consitent development and deployment environments
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CI/CD Pipelines Automated pipelines for testing and deploying code changes.
This section outlines the core entities in the database and how they relate to each other
Represents Users of the platform, including property owners and guests.
Key Fields:
id(Primary Key): unique Identifier for the username: Full name of the useremail: User's email address (unique)password_hash: Encrypted passwordrole: Defines if the user is a host or guest
Relationships
- A user can own multiple properties
- A user can make multiple bookings
- A user can write multiple reviews
- A user can make multiple payments
Represents properties listed by users for booking.
Key Fields:
id(Primary Key): Unique identifier for the propertyowner_id(Foreign Key -> Users): The user who owns the propertytitle: Name or title of the propertydescription: Detailed description of the propertyprice_per_night: Cost to stay per night
Relationships:
- A property belongs to a user (owner)
- A property can have multiple bookings
- A property can have multiple reviews
Represents reservations made by users for properties
Key Fields:
id(Primary Key): Unique identifier for the bookinguser_id: (Foreign Key -> Users): The guest who made the bookingproperty_id(Foreign Key -> Properties): The property being bookedstart_date: Booking start dateend_date: Booking end date
Relationships:
- A booking belongs to one user and one property
- A booking may have one associated payment
Captures feedback left by users on properties.
Key Fields:
id: Unique identifier for the reviewuser_id(Forign Key -> Users): The guest who left the reviewproperty_id(Foreign Key -> Properties): The property being reviewedrating: Numerical rating (e.g., 1-5)comment: Textual feedback
Relationships:
- A review belongs to a user and a property
Represents payment transactions for bookings. Key Fields:
id: Unique identifier for the paymentuser_id(Foreign Key -> Users): The user who made the paymentbooking_id(Foreign Key -> Bookings): The related bookingamount: Amount paidpayment_date: The date the payment was processed
Relationships:
- A payment belongs to a user and a booking
This section outlines the core features of the project and explains how each contributes to the overall functionality.
Handles user registration, login, and profile management. This feature allows both guests and hosts to create accounts, securely log in, and manage their personal information and activity.
Enables hosts to list, update, and delete their properties. Property management includes uploading descriptions, pricing, photos, and availability to attract potential guests.
Allows guests to view available properties and make bookings for specific dates.This features ensures date validation, prevents double booking, and maintains booking history for both users and hosts.
Handles secure payments for bookings. This includes collecting payment information, processing transactions, and linking payments to specific bookings for financial tracking.
Lets guests have reviews and ratings for properties they have stayed in. This helps build trust in the platform by providing feedback and helping future guests make informed decisions.
This section outlines the core security measures implemented to protect the application, its users, and their data.
All API endpoints that require user interaction are secured using token-based authentication (e.g., JWT). This ensures that only verified users can access protected resources like booking a property or managing listings.
Why it matters: Authentication protects user accounts and personal data by ensuring that only authorized individuals can perform sensitive operations.
Role-based access control is enforced to determine what actions a user can perform (e.g., only hosts can add properties, only admins can access platform analytics).
Why it matters: Authorization prevents unauthorized actions, ensuring users can only access and modify resources they own or are permitted to use.
Rate limiting is applied to prevent abuse of the API through excessive requests (e.g., brute-force login attempts or spamming endpoints).
Why it matters:
Rate limiting improves platform stability and protects against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and resource abuse.
CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery. It is a development practice where code changes are automatically built, tested, and deployed to production. The goal is to ensure rapid and reliable delivery of new features and bug fixes.
Implementing a CI/CD pipeline improves the development workflow by:
- Automatically testing code to catch bugs early
- Speeding up the deployment process
- Ensuring consistent and repeatable builds
- Reducing human error in manual deployments
This leads to faster feature releases, higher code quality, and a more robust product.
- GitHub Actions: Automates workflows like testing, building, and deployment directly from the GitHub repository.
- Docker: Packages the application and its dependencies into containers for consistent deployment across environments.