GitHub Actions and MySQL are some of my favorite technologies in this project because they make development and data management so much smoother. GitHub Actions automates testing and deployment, so there’s no need to manually check everything every time code is pushed to the repository. MySQL is great for keeping investment data organized and easy to query, which is super important for tracking portfolios. Together, they make the project more efficient and reliable, making them my two favorite technologies in this project.
If I could start over, I’d go with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) from the start. With the app already deployed, setting up Cloud SQL would have been more seamless, and we could have taken advantage of managed database services from the start instead of dealing with self-hosting MySQL. Additionally, there could be use of Firebase for authentication and real-time updates which would make the app more responsive without extra backend work. Plus, having everything in GCP would make adding in visualization a little smoother.
To describe how one of my favorite technologies works: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is great because of how seamless it makes deployment and management. Once you’re in the ecosystem, everything just works together, Cloud SQL connects easily to backend services, Firebase handles authentication without a ton of setup, and Firestore lets you manage real time data effortlessly. The add-ons are a huge plus too, like Looker Studio for analytics, Cloud Functions for running backend code without managing servers, and more. It takes care of a lot of the infrastructure headaches, so instead of worrying about setting up servers or other tasks, you can just focus on building the actual app!
