🚀 CU Node Starter

A minimal but powerful Node.js + Express + MySQL + TypeScript + Vite starter template.
Designed for fast prototyping, exams, and real-world projects without wasting time on boilerplate setup.

📖 Story & Motivation

🔹 The Problem

Every time I start a new project (for exams, demos, or practice), I waste time on:

• Installing Express, MySQL, TypeScript configs, and dotenv.
• Writing the same DB connection code again and again.
• Figuring out where to put index.html, CSS, and frontend assets.
• Setting up routes, sample HTML, and reusable UI components.
• Repeating boilerplate work instead of solving the actual problem.

👉 This slows me down, especially in exams where time is critical.

🔹 The Goal

CU Node Starter exists to make project setup fast, minimal, and reusable:

1. Minimal but powerful – no bloated frameworks, just what you need.
2. Separation of concerns – clean backend (/src) + frontend (/frontend) + static build (/public).
3. Fast to start – CLI asks for project name + DB configs → auto-generates .env.
4. Reusable CSS & HTML – ready-made forms, buttons, tables, etc.
5. Exam-friendly – avoids unnecessary complexity like SSR or advanced frameworks.

🔹 Design Choices

• Express + MySQL2 → lightweight, reliable, exam-safe stack.
• TypeScript → better code safety, fewer forgotten syntax mistakes.
• Vite → blazing-fast frontend build system.
• /frontend → /public → Vite compiles frontend into public, and Express serves it.
• Simple Routes → no extra controllers/services (faster coding under exam pressure).
• Reusable CSS → forms, buttons, inputs, tables pre-styled.
• Sample HTML → quick starting point to copy/modify.

🔹 Benefits

• ⏱ Save time → start coding the real solution, not boilerplate.
• 📦 Consistency → predictable structure across projects.
• 🏫 Exam-ready → minimalistic and efficient.
• 🔧 Extensible → later add React, Vue, Tailwind, authentication, etc. if needed.

👉 In short: CU Node Starter = No more wasted setup time. Focus on solving the actual problem.

📂 Project Structure

project-name/
│── .env
│── package.json
│── tsconfig.json
│── vite.config.ts
│
├── src/                  # Backend code
│   ├── index.ts          # Main entry (Express + routes + DB)
│   ├── routes/           # Express routes
│   │   └── sample.ts
│   ├── db.ts             # MySQL connection
│   └── utils/            # Helper functions (optional)
│
├── frontend/             # Frontend source (compiled by Vite)
│   ├── index.html        # Main entry page
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── styles.css    # Base reusable styles
│   └── ts/
│       └── main.ts       # Example frontend logic
│
└── public/               # Vite build output (served by Express)
    └── ...               # index.html, js, css after build

⚡ Getting Started

1. Install the package:

npx cu-node-starter

2. Answer setup questions:

   • Project name
   • Database name
   • DB user, password, host, port

3. Start coding 🚀

📝 License

MIT – use it freely for exams, projects, and beyond.