Solution Strategy review

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Solution Strategy for Ethereal Pulse

1. Introduction and Goal Statement

Project Name: Ethereal Pulse

Goals:

• To provide users with a robust email management system where they can create, edit, and manage their emails.
• To enable users to view and manage server integrations.
• To develop an API that facilitates the retrieval of user and email data.
• To build SDKs that clients can use to send emails easily.

2. Key Requirements

Functional Requirements:

• User authentication and authorization.
• Email management (create, view, edit, delete).
• Server integration management (view, add, delete).
• API for user and email data retrieval.
• SDKs for client use to interact with the API and send emails.

Non-Functional Requirements:

• Security: Secure user authentication and data handling.
• Performance: Fast response times for API and email operations.
• Scalability: Ability to handle increasing number of users and emails.
• Usability: Intuitive user interface and user experience.
• Maintainability: Clean and modular code structure for easy updates and maintenance.

3. Quality Scenarios

• Performance: The system should handle up to xxx concurrent users with minimal latency.
• Security: All user data must be encrypted at rest and in transit.
• Scalability: The system should be able to scale horizontally to handle more load by adding more instances.
• Usability: The UI should be intuitive enough that users can perform email and server integration tasks without extensive training.

4. Solution Strategy

4.1. Architecture Overview

The architecture will follow a modular, service-oriented approach, consisting of the following main components:

• Frontend: Developed using Astro to support React, Vue, and Svelte for an intuitive and flexible user interface and multiple language support for email libraries.
• Backend: A Node.js server to handle API requests, perform business logic, and interact with the database.
• Database: The database discussion is ongoing between MongoDB and Azure Cosmos DB. Azure Cosmos DB will be the first integration, followed by MongoDB for flexibility.
• SDKs: SDKs in JavaScript, Java and Kotlin to facilitate email sending for clients.
• Email Integrations: Starting with Azure Communication Service (ACS) and AWS Simple Email Service (SES), with nodemailer integration planned for the future.

4.2. Technology Stack

• Frontend: Astro, supporting React.js, Vue.js, and Svelte, HTML, CSS, JavaScript.
• Backend: Node.js, Express.js.
• Database: Ongoing discussion between Azure Cosmos DB and MongoDB.
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens).
• Email Services: Azure Communication Service, AWS Simple Email Service, and nodemailer (planned for the future).
• Deployment: Docker for containerization, Kubernetes for orchestration, and CI/CD pipelines for continuous integration and deployment.

4.3. Design Principles

• Modularity: Breaking down the system into smaller, manageable modules.
• Separation of Concerns: Clear separation between frontend, backend, and database layers.
• Scalability: Designing components to scale horizontally.
• Security: Implementing best practices for authentication, authorization, and data encryption.
• Maintainability: Writing clean, well-documented code to ease future maintenance and updates.

4.4. Architectural Patterns

• Microservices: For handling different services like user management, email management, and server integration management.
• MVC (Model-View-Controller): For the separation of concerns in the backend.
• Repository Pattern: For data access logic and business logic separation.

4.5. Tools and Libraries

• Frontend: Astro, React or Vue or Svelte, Axios for HTTP requests.
• Backend: Express.js, Mongoose for MongoDB ORM (if MongoDB is chosen), JWT for authentication.
• Testing: Jest for unit testing.
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions or GitLab CI for continuous integration and deployment.
• Containerization: Docker for containerizing applications.

4.6. Risk Management

• Security Risks: Mitigated by using HTTPS, JWT, and proper encryption.

• Performance Risks: Addressed by load testing and optimizing code.

• Scalability Risks: Handled by designing for horizontal scaling from the beginning.

• Usability Risks: Reduced by user testing and feedback loops during development.

• Database Choice: Continued evaluation between Azure Cosmos DB and MongoDB to ensure the selected database meets scalability, performance, and cost requirements..

• Email Integration: Starting with Azure Communication Service and AWS SES to provide immediate email functionality, with nodemailer integration planned for future flexibility.

• API Development: Prioritizing the development of the API to support SDKs, ensuring a solid foundation for future application development

5. Decision Log

Key Decisions:

1. Database Choice: Ongoing evaluation between MongoDB and Azure Cosmos DB to determine the best fit for scalability, performance, and cost.
2. Email Integration Strategy: Starting with Azure Communication Service and AWS Simple Email Service for immediate email functionality, with nodemailer integration planned for future flexibility.
3. API Development Priority: Prioritizing the development of the API to support SDKs, ensuring a solid foundation for future application development.
4. Frontend Framework: Astro chosen for its ability to support multiple frontend frameworks (React, Vue, Svelte), providing flexibility for developers and allowing for future framework changes and multiple email libraries support.

6. Implementation Roadmap

1. Phase 1: Initial Setup and Planning

   • Set up project repository and development environment.
   • Finalize technology stack and architectural decisions.
   • Define API specifications and database schema.
   • Establish CI/CD pipelines and development workflows.

2. Phase 2: Backend Development

   • Develop authentication and authorization mechanisms.
   • Implement API endpoints for user management.
   • Integrate Azure Cosmos DB or MongoDB for data storage.
   • Implement email integration with Azure Communication Service and AWS SES.

3. Phase 3: SDK Development

   • Develop SDKs in JavaScript, Java and Kotlin for email functionality.
   • Implement SDK methods for interacting with the API.
   • Write comprehensive documentation for SDK usage and integration.

4. Phase 4: Frontend Development

   • Set up Astro project with support for React, Vue, and Svelte email libraries.
   • Develop user interface components for email management and server integration.
   • Implement user authentication and authorization flows in the frontend.
   • Integrate SDKs for email functionality into the frontend.

5. Phase 5: Testing and Quality Assurance

   • Write unit tests for backend API endpoints and SDK methods.
   • Perform integration testing for frontend components and SDK integration.
   • Conduct end-to-end testing to validate user flows and application functionality.
   • Address any bugs or issues identified during testing.

6. Phase 6: Deployment and Launch

   • Set up production environment and deploy application components.
   • Configure monitoring and logging for performance tracking and error reporting.
   • Conduct final user acceptance testing and sign-off.
   • Launch the web application for public access.

7. Phase 7: Post-launch Monitoring and Maintenance (Ongoing)

   • Monitor application performance and user feedback.
   • Address any bugs or issues reported by users.
   • Iterate on the application based on user feedback and usage metrics.
   • Plan for future updates and feature enhancements based on evolving requirements.

[ivanLOliveira]

Some add ons :

• When I mentioned JavaScript I'm also considering TypeScript.
• The email lib’s mentioned are react-email, vue-email, and swelte-email (a small POC for the react-email lib was done ☑️ )
• The Roadmap described does not necessarily rule out doing some phases in parallel

[teixeped]

Notes from alignment meeting

• One email provider per app instance: no possibility to switch providers by web app
• Avoid proprietary DBs (Cosmos, Dynamo) and integrate with common ones (MongoDB, PostgresSQL)
• API first approach with OpenAPI spec