Alright, let me tell you about this little side project I’ve been messing with – “restaurant ink.” It’s nothing fancy, just a way for me to learn some new stuff and keep my coding muscles flexed. So, grab a coffee (or a beer, no judgment) and let’s dive in.
First off, I got this idea while staring at a blank screen, as you do. I was thinking about how restaurants always need menus, and how a lot of them are stuck using old, clunky PDFs or outdated websites. So, I thought, “Why not build a super simple system where restaurants can easily manage their menus online?” That’s where “restaurant ink” was born. Super original name, I know.
The initial plan was dead simple. I wanted a basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) app. Restaurants could:
- Add menu items with descriptions and prices.
- Edit those items when prices change or new dishes are added.
- Remove items that are no longer available.
- View their entire menu in a nice, presentable format.
I started by sketching out the database schema. I went with PostgreSQL because I like it and it’s free. A simple table for ‘menus’ with columns like ‘restaurant_name’, ‘description’, etc. Then a ‘menu_items’ table with ‘item_name’, ‘description’, ‘price’, and a foreign key linking it back to the ‘menus’ table. Pretty standard stuff.
Next up was choosing a framework. I opted for Flask, a lightweight Python web framework. I’m comfortable with Python, and Flask is easy to get up and running with. I set up a virtual environment (always a good idea!) and installed Flask and a few other dependencies like Flask-SQLAlchemy for database interactions and Flask-Migrate for handling database migrations. Trust me, migrations are a lifesaver when you inevitably need to change your database schema later.
I started coding the basic routes. I used blueprints to keep things organized. There was a blueprint for the main restaurant menu, one for editing the menu, etc. I created routes for displaying the menu (the ‘Read’ part of CRUD), adding new items (‘Create’), editing existing items (‘Update’), and deleting items (‘Delete’). Each route would interact with the database using SQLAlchemy to fetch or modify data.
The front-end is where I spent the least amount of time, to be honest. I’m no designer. I just used basic HTML and CSS with a touch of Bootstrap to make it look somewhat presentable. I made sure the menu was easily readable on different devices (mobile-first design, you know?). I threw in some simple forms for adding and editing menu items.
Authentication was the next hurdle. I wanted to make sure that only the restaurant owner could edit their menu. I implemented a simple user authentication system using Flask-Login. Restaurants can register an account, log in, and then they can access the menu editing features. I stored the passwords securely using hashing (never store passwords in plain text!).
Once the core functionality was working, I started thinking about deployment. I wanted something simple and cheap. I ended up using Heroku. It’s relatively easy to deploy a Flask app to Heroku, and they have a free tier that’s perfect for a small side project like this. I configured the app to use a PostgreSQL database on Heroku as well.
Of course, there were plenty of bumps along the way. I spent hours debugging database connection issues, fighting with CSS to get things to look right, and figuring out why my authentication wasn’t working. But that’s all part of the fun, right? Each problem was a learning opportunity.
So, “restaurant ink” is alive! It’s not perfect. It’s still a work in progress, and there’s a ton of features I could add (image uploads for menu items, better search functionality, etc.). But it’s a functional little app that I built from scratch, and I learned a lot in the process. That’s what matters.
If you’re thinking about starting your own side project, I say go for it. Don’t worry about making it perfect. Just start building, and you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish. And don’t be afraid to break things – that’s how you learn!
