Semillero Digital App

About the Project

What Inspired Me

I was inspired to build this educational platform after witnessing the challenges teachers and students face when trying to integrate multiple Google services in their daily workflows. The need for a unified solution that bridges Google Classroom with custom educational tools became evident during remote learning scenarios, where seamless authentication and data synchronization are crucial for effective online education.

What I Learned

This project taught me several key concepts:

• OAuth 2.0 Flow Implementation: Deep dive into Google's authentication ecosystem, including JWT token management and refresh token strategies
• Django REST Framework Architecture: Building robust APIs with proper error handling, serialization, and documentation using OpenAPI/Swagger
• Google Classroom API Integration: Working with Google's educational APIs to fetch courses, assignments, and student submissions
• Full-Stack Authentication: Implementing secure token-based authentication between Django backend and Next.js frontend
• Phone Number Validation: International phone number formatting using the E.164 standard with proper validation

How I Built It

The project follows a clean separation of concerns:

Backend (Django REST):

• Custom user model with Google OAuth integration
• JWT-based authentication with access/refresh token pairs
• RESTful API endpoints for user management and Google Classroom data
• Comprehensive error handling with standardized JSON responses
• OpenAPI documentation for easy integration

Frontend (Next.js):

• Google Identity Services integration for seamless login
• Role-based dashboards (student/teacher) with different functionalities
• Responsive design with modern UI components
• Secure token storage and API communication

Key Technical Decisions:

• Used Django's built-in authentication system extended with Google OAuth
• Implemented phone number validation using the phonenumbers library
• Chose JWT over session-based authentication for better scalability
• Used Next.js for its excellent developer experience and performance

Challenges Faced

1. Google OAuth Complexity: Managing multiple OAuth flows (authentication vs. Classroom API access) required careful token management and refresh strategies.

2. Phone Number Validation: Implementing proper international phone number validation with E.164 format while maintaining user experience was challenging.

3. Role-Based Access Control: Designing the system to handle different user roles (student/teacher) with appropriate permissions and dashboard views.

4. API Documentation: Creating comprehensive OpenAPI documentation that accurately reflects the authentication flows and error handling.

5. Frontend-Backend Integration: Ensuring secure communication between Next.js and Django while maintaining a smooth user experience.

The project successfully addresses these challenges through careful architecture design and thorough testing of the authentication flows.

Built With

• django
• nextjs