Todo Application - Java Web Development Learning Project

A comprehensive Java web application project designed for students learning web development. This project implements a Todo list manager using Java Servlets, JSP, and MySQL, providing hands-on experience with core web technologies.

🎯 Learning Objectives

• Understanding MVC architecture in Java web applications
• Working with Servlets and JSP
• Database operations using JDBC
• Web application deployment
• Basic CRUD operations

📋 Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

• JDK 8 or higher installed
• Apache Tomcat 8.5 or higher
• MySQL Server 5.7 or higher
• IDE (Eclipse/IntelliJ IDEA)
• Git

🚀 Getting Started

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/v-eenay/simple-todo-app-java.git
cd simple-todo-app-java

2. Database Setup

To set up the database for this application:

1. Make sure you have MySQL installed and running

2. Run the SQL script located in sql/todo_database.sql to create the database and tables:

   mysql -u root < sql/todo_database.sql
   

   (If your MySQL has a password, use mysql -u root -p < sql/todo_database.sql)

3. The script will:

   • Create the todo_database if it doesn't exist
   • Create the required todo_table with all necessary fields
   • Insert some sample data (optional)

3. Configure Database Connection

1. Navigate to src/main/java/com/todo/model/TodoDAO.java
2. Update the following properties:

private static final String URL = "jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/todo_database";
private static final String USER = "your_username";
private static final String PASSWORD = "your_password";

4. Project Setup

Maven Setup

1. Ensure Maven is installed on your system
2. Navigate to project directory
3. Run mvn clean install
4. Add the following dependencies to pom.xml:

• javax.servlet-api
• mysql-connector-java
• jstl
• junit

Manual Setup

1. Create a new Dynamic Web Project
2. Add the following JARs to WEB-INF/lib:
   • javax.servlet-api-3.1.0.jar
   • mysql-connector-java-8.0.27.jar
   • jstl-1.2.jar
3. Configure build path to include these JARs

5. Configure Tomcat Server

1. Window → Show View → Servers
2. Right-click → New → Server
3. Choose Apache → Tomcat v8.5
4. Set server location to your Tomcat installation
5. Add the project to the server

📁 Project Structure

todo-application/
├── src/
│   ├── main/
│   │   ├── java/
│   │   │   ├── com/todo/
│   │   │   │   ├── controller/
│   │   │   │   │   ├── AddTodoServlet.java
│   │   │   │   │   ├── DeleteTodoServlet.java
│   │   │   │   │   └── ListTodoServlet.java
│   │   │   │   └── model/
│   │   │   │       ├── TodoModel.java
│   │   │   │       └── TodoDAO.java
│   │   ├── webapp/
│   │   │   ├── WEB-INF/
│   │   │   │   └── web.xml
│   │   │   ├── views/
│   │   │   │   ├── add-todo.jsp
│   │   │   │   └── list-todo.jsp
│   │   │   ├── assets/
│   │   │   │   └── css/
│   │   │   │       └── styles.css
│   │   │   │
│   │   │   └── index.jsp
│   └── test/
└── pom.xml

🎯 Implementation Steps

1. Create Model Class (TodoModel.java)

public class TodoModel {
   private int id;
   private String title;
   private String description;
   private boolean completed;
   // Add getters, setters, constructors
}

2. Implement DAO Layer (TodoDAO.java)

public class TodoDAO {
   // Database operations
   public static int addTodo(TodoModel todoModel);
   public static ArrayList<TodoModel> listTodos();
   public static boolean deleteTodo(TodoModel todoModel);
}

3. Create Servlets

• AddTodoServlet.java: Handle todo creation
• DeleteTodoServlet.java: Handle todo deletion
• ListTodoServlet.java: Display todos

4. Design JSP Pages

• index.jsp: Landing page
• add-todo.jsp: Add new todo
• list-todo.jsp: Display all todos

🔍 Testing

1. Start Tomcat server
2. Access application at http://localhost:8080/todo-application
3. Test following features:

• Adding new todo
• Listing todos
• Deleting todo

🚀 Suggested Improvements

Students can enhance the project by adding:

1. User Authentication

   • Login/Register functionality
   • User-specific todos
   • Session management

2. Todo Features

   • Todo categories/tags
   • Priority levels
   • Due date notifications
   • Status tracking

3. UI Enhancements

   • Responsive design
   • Dark/Light theme
   • Search and filter todos
   • Sorting options

4. API Integration

   • RESTful API endpoints
   • JSON response format
   • API documentation

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/NewFeature)
3. Implement your feature
   • Follow existing code structure
   • Add appropriate comments
   • Include unit tests
4. Commit changes (git commit -m 'Add NewFeature')
5. Push to branch (git push origin feature/NewFeature)
6. Open a Pull Request with detailed description

✍️ Author

Vinay Koirala
Lecturer, Itahari International College

🆘 Need Help?

• Check the Issues section
• Contact: binaya.koirala@iic.edu.np

Features

• Create: Add new todo items
• Read: View all todo items
• Update: Edit existing todo items
• Delete: Remove todo items