Mastering Time: A Backend Guide to Appointment Systems

Time is a precious commodity, especially when it comes to managing appointments. In this guide, we’ll embark on a coding journey to create a robust backend for an appointment system with a time window from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Setting the Stage: Tech Stack

For our backend wizardry, we’ll use Node.js with Express and MongoDB as our database. Ensure you have Node.js and npm installed, and consider using a library like mongoose to interact with MongoDB.

Spell 1: Express Setup

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const PORT = 3000;

app.use(express.json());

app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(`Server is running on port ${PORT}`);
});

Spell 2: MongoDB Connection

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost:27017/appointments', {
  useNewUrlParser: true,
  useUnifiedTopology: true,
});

Spell 3: Creating the Appointment Schema

const appointmentSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
  clientName: String,
  date: Date,
  time: String,
});

const Appointment = mongoose.model('Appointment', appointmentSchema);

Spell 4: Endpoint for Available Time Slots

app.get('/available-time', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const availableTimeSlots = ['9:00 AM', '10:00 AM', '11:00 AM', '12:00 PM', '1:00 PM', '2:00 PM', '3:00 PM', '4:00 PM', '5:00 PM'];
    
    // Fetch booked time slots from the database
    const bookedTimeSlots = await Appointment.find({ date: req.query.date });
    
    // Remove booked time slots from available ones
    const filteredTimeSlots = availableTimeSlots.filter(slot => !bookedTimeSlots.includes(slot));

    res.json({ availableTimeSlots: filteredTimeSlots });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Internal Server Error' });
  }
});

Spell 5: Booking an Appointment

app.post('/book-appointment', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const { clientName, date, time } = req.body;
    
    // Check if the selected time slot is available
    const isSlotAvailable = await Appointment.findOne({ date, time });

    if (isSlotAvailable) {
      res.status(400).json({ error: 'Selected time slot is not available' });
    } else {
      // Book the appointment
      const newAppointment = new Appointment({ clientName, date, time });
      await newAppointment.save();
      res.json({ message: 'Appointment booked successfully' });
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Internal Server Error' });
  }
});

Conclusion: Unleashing the Magic

With these spells, you’ve conjured a backend system for managing appointments within the 9 AM to 5 PM time window. Feel free to customize and enhance the spells to suit your specific requirements. May your appointments be seamless and your code be enchanting! 🌟💻 #BackendMagic #AppointmentWizardry 🌐🔮