course-builder

Introduction to Course Builder

Course Builder is an innovative and dynamic platform designed to facilitate the development and deployment of education products specifically for developers. It functions as a real-time multiplayer content management system that supports the creation of structured learning materials. This tool aims to streamline the process of building educational courses by providing a robust framework that is both user-friendly and effective.

Main Features

The primary application of Course Builder is located within the apps/course-builder-web directory. This application constitutes the core of the system, and detailed usage instructions are available in its accompanying readme file. The project is organized as a monorepo, which is efficiently handled by Turborepo. This setup allows developers to manage multiple packages within a single repository, promoting consistency and collaboration across various components of the project.

Getting Started

To begin using Course Builder, developers need to follow a few initial steps to set up the environment:

1. Install Dependencies: Start by running pnpm install, which installs all the necessary dependencies required for the project.

2. Build the Project: Execute pnpm build to compile the project components.

3. Setup Environment: Navigate to the apps/course-builder-web directory. Here, you will find an example environment file named .env.example. Duplicate this file and renamed it to .env. This new file will store all environment-specific variables needed for various services.

4. Development Mode: Run pnpm dev from the project's root directory. This command activates development watch mode, which continuously tracks changes across all packages in the monorepo, ensuring that updates are promptly integrated and tested.

Note that each application within the monorepo must be started individually, as pnpm dev does not automatically run them.

Overcoming Initial Hurdles

One of the main challenges when starting with Course Builder is configuring the environment variables correctly. These variables are essential for the proper functioning of various services that the platform relies on. Copying the environment variables from apps/course-builder-web/.env.example to .env and ensuring they are correctly filled out is crucial. For team members associated with Skill Recordings, additional guidance can be found through resources on Vercel.

Conclusion

The Course Builder project, crafted by the creative team at Badass Courses 🍄🌈💀, represents a powerful solution for those looking to produce educational content tailored for developers. With its real-time capabilities and structured approach, it stands out as a resourceful tool for educators and developers alike, simplifying the creation and distribution of developer-focused learning materials.