Local Development with Supastarter: A Developer's Guide

In today's fast-paced development world, having a reliable and consistent local development environment is crucial. supastarter provides a comprehensive setup that allows you to run your entire application stack locally, making development faster and more reliable (also offline). Let's explore how to set this up and why it matters.

Why Local Development Matters

Running your application locally offers several key advantages:

• Faster Development Cycles: No waiting for remote deployments or dealing with shared development environments
• Complete Control: You have full access to all services and can modify configurations as needed
• Offline Development: Work without internet connectivity
• Cost-Effective: No need to pay for cloud resources during development
• Consistent Environment: Everyone on the team can work with the same setup

Setting Up Your Local Environment

supastarter's local development setup includes two main services:

1. PostgreSQL Database: For your application's data storage
2. MinIO S3 Storage: For handling file uploads and media storage

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• Docker and Docker Compose
• Node.js (v18 or later)
• pnpm package manager

Quick Start

1. Create a docker-compose.yml file with our pre-configured services (see local development guide)
2. Set up your environment variables
3. Start the services with docker-compose up -d
4. Create your S3 bucket through the MinIO console
5. Run pnpm dev to start your development server

The Complete Local Stack

Our local development environment provides:

• PostgreSQL Database:

  • Running on port 5432
  • Pre-configured with default credentials
  • Persistent data storage through Docker volumes

• MinIO S3 Storage:

  • Web console accessible at http://localhost:9001
  • API endpoint at http://localhost:9000
  • Compatible with AWS S3 SDK

Beyond Local Development

While local development is essential, it's important to remember that your application will eventually run in different environments. Here are some key considerations:

Testing Different Scenarios

1. Network Conditions:

   • Test with simulated slow connections
   • Implement proper error handling for network failures
   • Consider using tools like Chrome DevTools' network throttling

2. Error Handling:

   • Implement robust error boundaries
   • Test edge cases and failure scenarios
   • Ensure proper user feedback for all error states

3. Performance Testing:

   • Monitor loading times
   • Implement proper loading states
   • Test with different data volumes

Best Practices

1. Version Control:

   • Keep your docker-compose.yml in version control
   • Document any local-specific configurations

2. Team Collaboration:

   • Share the same development setup across the team
   • Document any special requirements or configurations
   • Regular updates to the local development stack

Conclusion

A well-configured local development environment is the foundation of efficient development. Supastarter's setup provides everything you need to get started quickly while maintaining the flexibility to test and develop your application thoroughly.

Remember that while local development is convenient, it's just one part of your development workflow. Always test your application in various environments and conditions to ensure a robust and reliable user experience.

Ready to get started? Check out our documentation for detailed setup instructions and configuration options.