MJStore Fullstack Roadmap

Professional step-by-step guide to build a production-ready e-commerce platform using Django, PostgreSQL, and modern web technologies

Linux CLI

Django

PostgreSQL

HTML/CSS

JavaScript

Git/GitHub

JWT Auth

Deployment

1

Project Setup & Planning

1

Linux Environment Setup

Install Python, pip, virtualenv, VS Code, and required CLI tools

Terminal Python 3.10+ virtualenv
2

GitHub Repository Initialization

Create repo, set up .gitignore, initialize with README.md and LICENSE

git init gh repo create
3

Project Planning

Define features, user flows, and create ER diagrams for database

Draw.io Mermaid.js
4

Django Project Setup

Create project with virtual environment, install dependencies

django-admin requirements.txt
5

Environment Configuration

Set up .env file for environment variables and settings.py configuration

python-dotenv django-environ

Use django-admin startproject mjstore to initialize project structure

2

Database Design & Models

1

PostgreSQL Configuration

Install PostgreSQL, create database, configure Django settings

psql createdb
2

Core Models Design

Create Product, Category, Customer, Order, and OrderItem models

models.py relationships
3

Advanced Model Fields

Implement DecimalField for prices, ImageField for products, indexes for optimization

Pillow db_index
4

Migrations & Initial Data

Create migrations, apply to database, and load initial fixtures

makemigrations migrate loaddata
5

Admin Interface Setup

Register models in admin.py, customize admin site with list displays and filters

admin.site.register ModelAdmin

Use python manage.py makemigrations and migrate to update database schema

3

Authentication & User Management

1

Custom User Model

Extend AbstractUser for custom fields (address, phone, etc.)

AUTH_USER_MODEL AbstractUser
2

Authentication System

Implement login, logout, registration with email verification

django-allauth SMTP
3

Password Management

Create password reset and change functionality with security validation

PasswordResetView django.contrib.auth
4

Role-Based Access Control

Implement groups and permissions for customers, staff, and admins

permissions user.groups
5

Profile Management

Create user profile page with edit functionality and order history

Class-based Views Forms

Use django-allauth for comprehensive authentication features

4

Core Functionality Development

1

Product Catalog

Create views for product listing, filtering, searching and detail pages

ListView DetailView
2

Shopping Cart System

Implement session-based cart functionality with add/remove/update items

django-sessions context processors
3

Checkout Process

Create multi-step checkout with address selection, payment integration

Stripe API FormWizard
4

Order Management

Implement order creation, confirmation emails, and order history

django-celery EmailMessage
5

Admin Dashboard

Build custom admin views for order processing and inventory management

django-admin Custom Views

Use Django's class-based views for efficient CRUD operations

5

API Development with DRF

1

DRF Setup & Configuration

Install Django REST Framework, configure settings and authentication

djangorestframework REST_FRAMEWORK
2

Model Serializers

Create serializers for all core models with validation and relationships

ModelSerializer HyperlinkedModelSerializer
3

ViewSets & Routers

Implement ViewSets for CRUD operations and register with DefaultRouter

ModelViewSet DefaultRouter
4

API Authentication

Implement JWT authentication for API endpoints with token refresh

djangorestframework-simplejwt TokenAuthentication
5

API Documentation

Generate API documentation with Swagger/OpenAPI and DRF Spectacular

drf-spectacular Swagger UI

Use djangorestframework-simplejwt for secure API authentication

6

Frontend Development

1

Static Templates

Create base templates with Bootstrap 5 and custom CSS structure

Bootstrap 5 SASS
2

Template Inheritance

Implement Django template inheritance for consistent UI components

{% extends %} {% block %}
3

Dynamic Content

Integrate Django template tags and filters with backend data

{% for %} {% if %} Custom filters
4

JavaScript Interactivity

Add cart management, live search, and dynamic forms with vanilla JS

Fetch API DOM Manipulation
5

Responsive Design

Optimize for all devices with mobile-first approach and testing

Media Queries Chrome DevTools

Use Bootstrap for rapid UI development with custom SASS overrides

7

Testing & Security

1

Unit Testing

Write tests for models, views, forms, and API endpoints

TestCase APITestCase
2

Integration Testing

Test user workflows (registration to checkout) with Selenium

django-selenium LiveServerTestCase
3

Security Hardening

Implement CSRF protection, XSS prevention, and SQL injection safeguards

django-csp SecurityMiddleware
4

Performance Optimization

Add caching, database indexing, and query optimization

django-debug-toolbar Redis
5

Logging & Monitoring

Set up logging, error tracking, and performance monitoring

Sentry django-logging

Use django-debug-toolbar to identify performance bottlenecks

8

Deployment & CI/CD

1

Production Environment

Configure production settings, environment variables, and security

Gunicorn Nginx
2

Containerization

Dockerize application with Dockerfile and docker-compose

Docker docker-compose
3

Cloud Deployment

Deploy to AWS/GCP with managed database and storage services

AWS EC2 RDS S3
4

CI/CD Pipeline

Set up GitHub Actions for automated testing and deployment

GitHub Actions CI/CD
5

Monitoring & Maintenance

Implement uptime monitoring, backups, and update strategy

Prometheus Grafana

Use GitHub Actions for automated testing on every push

AI/ML Integration Opportunities

Product Recommendations

Collaborative filtering based on purchase history
Content-based recommendations using product attributes
Real-time "customers also bought" suggestions

Customer Support Chatbot

NLP-powered order status inquiries
FAQ answering with contextual understanding
Escalation to human agents when needed

Business Intelligence

Sales forecasting with time series analysis
Customer churn prediction models
Personalized marketing campaign optimization

Enhanced Search

Natural language product search
Visual search using image recognition
Spelling correction and synonym handling