Tech Stack

SnapCart is a full-stack B2C e-commerce platform. This page documents the technologies used across the backend, frontend, and infrastructure layers.

Backend

Technology	Version	Role
Java	17+	Primary language
Spring Boot	3.2.5	Application framework
Spring Security	6.x	Authentication and authorisation
Spring Data JPA	3.x	ORM and database access layer
Hibernate	6.x	JPA implementation
MySQL	8.0+	Relational database
Flyway	10.x	Database migration and versioning
JWT (jjwt)	0.12.x	Stateless authentication tokens
Maven	3.9+	Build tool and dependency management
Lombok	1.18.x	Boilerplate reduction (getters, builders)
MapStruct	1.5.x	DTO ↔ Entity mapping
ModelMapper	3.x	Object mapping
ICU4J	73.x	Internationalisation and message formatting
Razorpay SDK	Latest	Razorpay payment integration
PayPal SDK	Latest	PayPal payment integration
Braintree SDK	Latest	Braintree/PayTM integration
JavaMail	1.6.x	SMTP email delivery

Key Backend Packages

com.snapcart.backend — root package
controller — REST API controllers (202 endpoints)
service — Business logic layer
repository — Spring Data JPA repositories
entity — JPA entity classes (80+ tables)
dto — Request and response DTOs
security — JWT filter, RBAC permission evaluator
config — Spring configuration beans
migration — Flyway SQL migration files (305+ migrations)

Frontend

Technology	Version	Role
React	18.x	UI component library
TypeScript	5.x	Type-safe JavaScript
Vite	5.x	Build tool and dev server
React Router	6.x	Client-side routing
Axios	1.x	HTTP client for API requests
i18next	23.x	Internationalisation framework
React i18next	14.x	React bindings for i18next
Zustand	4.x	Lightweight global state management
React Hook Form	7.x	Form state and validation
Zod	3.x	Schema validation
TailwindCSS	3.x	Utility-first CSS framework
Shadcn/ui	Latest	Accessible component library
Radix UI	Latest	Headless accessible primitives
Recharts	2.x	Admin dashboard charts
TipTap	2.x	Rich-text editor (blog, pages)
React Query	5.x	Server state, caching, and background sync

Frontend Architecture

The frontend is a Single-Page Application (SPA) split into two logical portals:

Customer Storefront (/) — Shopping, browsing, cart, checkout, account management (47+ pages)
Admin Panel (/admin) — Store management, RBAC-protected, 17 sections

Database

SnapCart uses MySQL 8.0 with Flyway for versioned schema management.

Metric	Value
Total tables	80+
Flyway migrations	305+
Schema versioning	Sequential (V1__, V2__, …)

Key tables include: users, roles, permissions, role_permissions, products, product_variants, categories, brands, attributes, orders, order_items, customers, coupons, shipping_zones, tax_rates, payments, languages, currencies.

Infrastructure

Component	Option
Server	Any Linux server (Ubuntu 22.04 recommended)
File Storage	Local filesystem or AWS S3
Email	Any SMTP provider (Gmail, SendGrid, Mailgun, AWS SES)
Containerisation	Docker + Docker Compose (optional)
Reverse Proxy	Nginx or Apache (for production)

REST API

Base URL: /api/v1
Auth: JWT Bearer token in Authorization header
Format: JSON request/response bodies
Total endpoints: 202
Documentation: SnapCart API Reference

Authentication Flow

POST /api/v1/admin/auth/login with { email, password } → returns { token, user }
Include Authorization: Bearer <token> in all subsequent requests.
Tokens expire after the configured duration (default 24 hours). Re-authenticate to get a fresh token.

Customer authentication uses /api/v1/auth/login (public endpoint, no admin prefix).

Frontend State Management

The frontend uses a hybrid state approach:

Layer	Tool	Used For
Server state	React Query (TanStack Query)	API data fetching, caching, background refetching, mutations
Global UI state	Zustand	Auth session, cart, language preference, currency, UI toggles
Local component state	React `useState` / `useReducer`	Form state, modal open/close, pagination
Form state	React Hook Form + Zod	Form validation, field errors, submit handling

React Query patterns used

useQuery — for read-only data (product list, order detail)
useMutation — for create/update/delete operations, with onSuccess cache invalidation
Query keys follow the pattern ['resource', id, filters] for granular cache control

Backend Package Structure

com.snapcart.backend
├── controller/          # REST controllers — request mapping and response shaping
├── service/             # Business logic — all application rules live here
│   └── impl/           # Service implementations
├── repository/          # Spring Data JPA repositories (one per entity)
├── entity/              # JPA @Entity classes mapped to MySQL tables
├── dto/                 # Request DTOs (input) and Response DTOs (output)
│   ├── request/
│   └── response/
├── security/            # JWT filter, Spring Security config, RBAC evaluator
├── config/              # Beans: CORS, storage, mail, payment gateway clients
├── exception/           # Custom exceptions and global @ControllerAdvice handler
├── mapper/              # MapStruct interfaces for entity ↔ DTO conversion
├── enums/               # Shared enums: OrderStatus, PaymentStatus, StorageType
└── migration/           # Flyway SQL files (V1__init.sql through V305__...)

Database Schema Highlights

Key relationships in the SnapCart data model:

users ──── roles ──── role_permissions ──── permissions

products ──── product_variants ──── order_items ──── orders ──── customers
     │
     ├── categories
     ├── brands
     └── product_attributes ──── attributes ──── attribute_values

shipping_zones ──── shipping_rates ──── countries ──── states ──── cities

coupons ──── orders
flash_deals ──── products

Flyway manages all schema changes. Never modify tables directly — always create a new migration file (V{n+1}__description.sql) and let Flyway apply it on application startup.

Development Tooling

Tool	Purpose
IntelliJ IDEA	Recommended IDE for backend (Spring Boot) development
VS Code	Recommended editor for frontend (React/TypeScript) development
Postman / Insomnia	API testing and exploration
MySQL Workbench	Database browsing and query execution
Docker Desktop	Local containerised environment
ESLint + Prettier	Frontend code linting and formatting
Checkstyle	Backend Java code style enforcement

See Architecture for a system-level view and Deployment for production setup.

Backend​

Key Backend Packages​

Frontend​

Frontend Architecture​

Database​

Infrastructure​

REST API​

Authentication Flow​

Frontend State Management​

React Query patterns used​

Backend Package Structure​

Database Schema Highlights​

Development Tooling​