Campus Lost & Found Item Tracker System

📌 Project Overview A centralized digital system for University students to report and search for lost or found items on campus. This project is built using Advanced Java Programming concepts (Servlets, MVC, DAO , Tomcat ) and a generic #React frontend.

🧠 Technologies Used

#Backend (Java Enterprise) Java Servlets: Core controller logic. Connect Java to an online PostgreSQL database (Neon). MVC Architecture: Strict separation of Model, View (React), and Controller. DAO Pattern: Data Access Object pattern for clean database abstraction. Filters: CORSFilter to handle cross-origin requests securely. Gson: For JSON serialization/deserialization. Apache Tomcat: Web server/container.

#Frontend (React) React 18: Functional Components & Hooks (useState, useEffect). Vite: Next-generation build tool. Axios: For REST API calls. CSS Modules/Variables**: Professional branding (Deep Indigo + Soft Cyan).

🚀 Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

1. Java JDK 8+ installed.

2. Apache Tomcat 9/10 installed.

3. MongoDB running locally on port 27017 (default).

4. Node.js & npm installed.

5. Backend Setup

6. Open the backend folder in your IDE (IntelliJ/Eclipse).

7. Add the following JARs to your generic WEB-INF/lib or build path: mongo-java-driver-3.12.x.jar (or newer) gson-2.8.x.jar javax.servlet-api-4.0.x.jar

8. Build the project (Compile Java files).

9. Deploy the project to Apache Tomcat.

   • Context Path /campus-lost-found
   • The API will be available at: http://localhost:8080/campus-lost-found/api/...

2. Frontend Setup

1. Navigate to the frontend directory: cd frontend

2. Install dependencies: npm install

3. Start the development server: npm run dev

4. Open http://localhost:3000 (or the port shown) in your browser.

📚 Advanced Concepts "Viva" Logic

🗄️ Database (Neon PostgreSQL)

This project uses Neon, a serverless PostgreSQL platform, meaning:

No local database installation required

Secure cloud-hosted PostgreSQL

SSL-enabled connections

Always available online

DAO Pattern

We separated the database logic (LostItemDAO) from the business logic (Servlet). This makes the code testable, maintainable, and allows us to swap the database implementation (e.g., to SQL) without changing the Servlet code.

UI/UX Design

The interface follows a "Deep Indigo + Soft Cyan" theme (#1a237e, #00bcd4) to convey trust and calmness. We use a Dashboard layout for quick access to recent items and clear Call-to-Action buttons for reporting.

API Endpoints

| Method | Endpoint | Description | |os|---|---| | GET | /api/lost-items | Get all lost items | | POST | /api/lost-items | Report a lost item | | GET | /api/found-items | Get all found items | | POST | /api/found-items | Report a found item | | GET | /api/search | Search items by query/category |

👥 Team & Collaboration This project is a group effort of 5 members. 1)Project Structure: See STRUCTURE.md for folder details. 2)Team Roles: See ROLES.md for assigned responsibilities. 3)GitHub Workflow: Detailed steps for pushing code are in ROLES.md#github-workflow--step-by-step. 4)New to GitHub?: Follow the Beginner's Guide to Submission for a step-by-step walkthrough.