My Backend is Finallyyy Coming Together

The biggest milestone I’ve reached since starting this project is getting the backend fully working. For this project, instead of one large file, I split each feature into its own module, so the app can independently fetch NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, ISS coordinates, upcoming rocket launches, and more.

I would say that writing the features was actually one of the easier parts of my project. On the other hand, parsing through what the API requests returned and seeing the data I wanted was sooooo tedious. I probably spent a good hour just doing that. I also had a lot of trouble getting everything to communicate properly. I spent much longer than I thought I would tracking down import errors, reorganizing project structure, and adjusting each and every module to make sure it returned data in a consistent format. It definitely wasn’t the most fun, but it was definitely satisfying seeing a clean codebase that is a lot cleaner and easier to build upon.

A decision I’m particularly happy about was calculating the moon phase locally instead of relying on another API. It not only tested my math skills, but it also saved API requests, meaning this feature will always work without worrying about rate limits.

The next stage of my project is moving to the frontend. Right now the page has all the possibility for function, but I want to turn into something that’s actually fun to explore with smooth transitions, full screen sections, and interactive animations instead of just a long page of text.

In all honesty, I completely forgot about devlogs, which is partly why this one was so long. In the future I will be updating more regularly. See you guys later!
P.S. I would really appreciate any tips you guys have for me :D