mern-demo

Create React Express App

About This Boilerplate

This setup allows for a Node/Express/React app which can be easily deployed to Heroku.

The front-end React app will auto-reload as it's updated via webpack dev server, and the backend Express app will auto-reload independently with nodemon.

Starting the app locally

Start by installing front and backend dependencies. While in this directory, run the following commands:

yarn install
cd client
yarn install
cd ..
``

After both installations complete, run the following command in your terminal:

yarn start

That's it, your app should be running on <http://localhost:3000>. The Express server should intercept any AJAX requests from the client.

## Deployment (Heroku)

### Create a Git Repo

Once you're ready to deploy, start by making sure your project is a git repository. If so, proceed to the next section, otherwise run the following commands in your terminal:

git init git add . git commit -m "Initial commit"

### Heroku

Make sure that you have a Heroku app created for this project. If so, proceed to the next section, otherwise run the following command in your terminal:

heroku create

Optionally add an argument for your application's name after `create`, e.g.

heroku myAwesomeApp

### Deploying

#### Option 1

Use the deploy script inside of the outer `package.json`

After confirming that you have an up to date git repository and a Heroku app created, run the following command to deploy:

yarn deploy

If all previous steps were followed correctly, your application should be deployed to Heroku!

#### Option 2

Manually deploy 

After confirming that you have an up to date git repository and a Heroku app created, complete the following:

1. Build the React app for production by running the following command:

yarn build

2. Add and commit all changes to git

3. Push to Heroku

If all previous steps were followed correctly, your application should be deployed to Heroku!