What will you build?

Together we will build the Rock the JVM Companies Board, a full stack online reviews platform with credit card checkout and AI integration. Users can create and manage their account, post and view reviews for Scala companies, and invite others to do the same.

We will build the application from scratch, using a ZIO-specific decoupled layered architecture on the backend, and functional-reactive programming architecture on the frontend with ScalaJS and Laminar.

The app includes many server-side bits including authentication, sending email, uploading images, charging credit cards and using an AI content generator. We have comprehensive test coverage in the backend, and we develop some core modules with test-driven development (TDD).

The frontend is built as a single-page application, organized for for scalability if you want to add new pages or functional components.

"Real-Life" means Real-LIVE

I want to put my code where my mouth is.

The application that you learn to build in this course is fully deployed and live here

companies.rockthejvm.com

Yes, it's a real company review platform that I will personally use for my students at Rock the JVM - I don't know if it makes a good billion$$ startup, but you can proudly deploy the project in this course.

If you're a company and want to promote yourself to the Rock the JVM community, go ahead and use it!

To me, "real-life" means

it works with real email accounts

it can charge money for buying product features

it's complex enough to be a full-blown product

it looks and works like a finished product

you'll deploy it to a website with a domain you own (I'll do it on camera)

This isn't even a "project-based" course. You will learn to build a full-blown product that people can use and pay for. You can build your startup with what you learn in this course (maybe with a better business idea).