Dockerize the Application (#85)

Dockerfile

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Use an official Node.js runtime as the base image
+FROM node:18
+
+# Set the working directory in the Docker container to /app
+WORKDIR /app/src
+
+# Copy package.json and package-lock.json to the working directory
+COPY package*.json ./
+
+# Install any needed packages specified in package.json
+RUN npm install
+
+# Bundle the app source inside the Docker image 
+# (assuming your app is in the "src" directory of your project)
+COPY . .
+
+# Make port 8080 available to the world outside this container
+EXPOSE 8080
+
+# Run the app when the container launches
+CMD [ "npm", "start" ]
+

README.md

@@ -61,6 +61,37 @@ Follow these steps to get started with the ScholarX backend:
 
 7. Open your web browser and navigate to `http://localhost:${server_port}` to access the running server.
 
+## Docker Setup
+
+If you prefer to use Docker for development, follow these steps:
+
+1. Ensure Docker and Docker Compose are installed on your machine. You can download them from here https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/.
+
+2. Build the Docker images:
+
+```docker-compose build```
+
+3. Start the Docker containers:
+
+```docker-compose up```
+
+4. The application and its services are now running in Docker containers. You can access the application at ```http://localhost:${SERVER_PORT}```, where ```SERVER_PORT``` is the port number specified in your ```.env``` file.
+
+5. To stop the Docker containers, use the following commnd:
+
+```docker-compose down```
+
+Please note that the Docker Compose setup assumes that you have a ```.env``` file in your project root. You can create one by copying the ```.env.example``` file:
+
+```cp .env.example .env```
+
+Then, replace the environment variables in the newly created ```.env``` file with your configuration.
+
+
+Remember to replace ```${SERVER_PORT}``` with the actual port number if it's a fixed value. If it's specified in the ```.env``` file, you can leave it as is.
+
+---
+
 #### Code Quality
 
 We strive to maintain a high code quality. You can check for linting issues by running:

docker-compose.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+version: '3'
+services:
+  app:
+    build: .
+    ports:
+      - "${SERVER_PORT}:3000"
+    depends_on:
+      - db
+    environment:
+      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://${DB_USER}:${DB_PASSWORD}@${DB_HOST}:${DB_PORT}/${DB_NAME}
+      - JWT_SECRET=${JWT_SECRET}
+  db:
+    image: postgres:13
+    environment:
+      - POSTGRES_USER=${DB_USER}
+      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
+      - POSTGRES_DB=${DB_NAME}
+