About the Project:

This is an inventory management system that uses a JavaFX frontend, a Java API, and MySQL for a database. It allows a store's inventory staff to log in securely with a custom role based access control system. Product inventory, customer invoices, and product category are the main features of this project that are currently completed.

Motivation:

In early 2021, I wanted to make a simple application for my portfolio that could exemplify my knowledge of Java and SQL to potential employers. I started this personal project to enhance my understanding of UI development, middleware development, and database development.

Depth of Project:

Authentication:

This project's authentication system involves a java class called Authenticator that verifies the user's credentials with an XML document.

Authorization:

Authorization in this project is handled by a java class called Authorizer, which is an implementation of a custom role-based access control system. Every CRUD action in this application initiates the Authorizer class to verify that the user has proper privileges. The privilege and role information is stored in a JSON file, which is accessed only by the Authorizer class.

Architecture:

This application uses a Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern. The models are Java classes that hold the basic data-related logic such as Product, Manufacturer, User, and Customer logic. The views are FXML files holding UI components of each application page. The controllers are Java classes that work as an interface between the View and model components. In addition, there are several helper/service classes that aid the controllers in business-logic.

YouTube Link to Demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ4ezDjAOmQ

Screenshots:

UML Class Diagram:

Tools Used:

1. Java - A general-purpose, object-oriented programming language. For more information about Java SE, visit: https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/16/
2. MySQL - An open-source relational database management system. For more information about MySQL, read the documentation website at: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/
3. JavaFX - An open-source client application platform. It is used in this project to develop UI components such as buttons, text views, and windows. Documentation can be read at: https://openjfx.io/
4. JDBC - Java Database Connectivity is a Java API that manages database connections for queries and commands. For JDBC installation instructions, visit: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/jdbc/jdbc-environment-setup.htm
5. JSON - JavaScript Object Notation is a data-interchange format. To read/write JSON with Java, you can implement JSON-java. This library can be found at: https://github.com/stleary/JSON-java
6. XML - Extensible Markup Language is another data-interchange format. To read/write XML with Java, you can implement DOM parser. For instructions on setting up DOM, visit: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/java_xml/java_dom_parse_document.htm
7. FXML - An XML-based language that provides a separate structure for UI components. A tutorial for FXML can be found at: https://docs.oracle.com/javafx/2/fxml_get_started/why_use_fxml.htm#CHDCHIBE
8. JUnit - A unit testing framework for Java. For more information on JUnit4, visit: https://junit.org/junit4/