Technology Stack
This project is built using modern web technologies optimized for real-time responsiveness, scalability, and developer productivity. The stack was selected to support low-latency updates, serverless architecture, and rapid development.
Frontend
Section titled “Frontend”| Technology | Rationale |
|---|---|
| React | Enables a component-based architecture for building dynamic, interactive user interfaces such as scoreboards and live updates. |
| Create React App | Provides a fast development server, optimized build pipeline, and zero-configuration setup for rapid development. |
| JavaScript (ES6+) | Offers broad browser compatibility and native support for asynchronous operations, which are essential for real-time data handling. |
| Clerk | Modern authentication platform with React integration for secure user management and sessions. |
Backend
Section titled “Backend”| Technology | Rationale |
|---|---|
| Node.js + Express.js | Non-blocking runtime ideal for handling live data streams and REST APIs. |
| MongoDB | Flexible NoSQL database for storing matches, teams, events, and user preferences in real time. |
| Football-Data.org API | Professional sports data provider delivering live match data, scores, and statistics with reliable real-time updates. |
| Custom APIs | Purpose-built endpoints for match setup, event feeds, authentication, and integrations with the frontend. |
Hosting & Deployment
Section titled “Hosting & Deployment”| Platform | Rationale |
|---|---|
| Render (Main App + Backend APIs) | Full-stack deployment platform supporting both static sites and Node.js servers. Offers auto-deploy from Git, scalable resources, HTTPS, and custom domains. |
| Netlify (Documentation) | Simple deployment for the Astro documentation site with automatic builds from Git. |
Testing & QA
Section titled “Testing & QA”| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Jest | Unit and integration testing for backend and frontend logic. |
| React Testing Library | Component testing to ensure UI renders and behaves correctly. |
| GitHub Actions / CI | Automates tests on push/PR to ensure code quality before deployment. |
Documentation Tooling
Section titled “Documentation Tooling”| Tool | Rationale |
|---|---|
| Astro.js | A performant static site generator that enables efficient delivery of documentation written in Markdown, with clean routing and fast builds. |
| Starlight Theme | Provides structured navigation, a clean user interface, and responsive design. Recommended by tutors and well-supported by the Astro ecosystem. |
Why This Stack
Section titled “Why This Stack”The technology stack was chosen to meet the following core project requirements:
-
Real-Time Performance
Node.js handles multiple concurrent match updates efficiently, while React’s virtual DOM ensures smooth, live updates to the user interface. MongoDB’s flexible schema allows instant updates to match stats and event logs. -
Scalability
Render automatically scales both the frontend and backend to handle traffic spikes, such as during popular matches. MongoDB Atlas provides horizontal scaling and global clusters to support fans worldwide. -
Developer Experience
Modern tool like React allows rapid development and prototyping with reusable components, and responsive UI design. Clerk simplifies authentication and user session management. -
Integration with External Data
Football-Data.org API delivers reliable live match data. Our backend APIs wrap these feeds, ensuring consistent formatting and allowing manual overrides when necessary. -
Reliability
Render and MongoDB Atlas offer monitoring, automatic failover, and high availability. Combined with version-controlled workflows and automated testing, this ensures the system is stable and maintainable. -
Cost Effectiveness
Using Render’s hosting and Mongo database minimizes operational costs while maintaining performance and reliability.
Architecture Overview
Section titled “Architecture Overview”Coming soon: diagram illustrating how the frontend, backend, database, and external APIs interact.