Okay, so, today I’m gonna share my experience building what I called a “safe adult site.” Yeah, I know how it sounds, but hear me out. It’s not what you think. It’s more about exploring some coding challenges and deploying stuff. Let’s dive in!
First off, the idea. I was tinkering with various web technologies, and the thought popped into my head: How hard would it be to create a site that’s, well, adult-themed, but completely safe? No actual content, just placeholders and humorous takes on typical adult site tropes. The goal was purely technical: to learn more about backend security, user authentication, and content delivery.
I started by choosing a tech stack. I went with a pretty standard setup:
- Frontend: React for the user interface because I’m kinda comfortable with it.
- Backend: * with * for handling the API and server-side logic, ’cause it’s quick to prototype.
- Database: MongoDB ’cause it’s NoSQL and flexible enough for my silly needs.
- Deployment: Docker and AWS (Elastic Beanstalk).
Next, the coding. The first thing I tackled was user authentication. I implemented a basic registration and login system using bcrypt for password hashing and JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for session management. I made sure to include input validation on both the frontend and backend to prevent the obvious security vulnerabilities. I remember spending way too long on just getting the password hashing right, but hey, gotta do it properly.
Then I moved onto the “content.” Since the whole point was to not have real content, I created placeholder images and text. Think of it as a really meta commentary on adult sites. I used lorem ipsum for the text and generated some abstract images using a Python script and the Pillow library. The backend served these placeholders as static files, making it super efficient. I also built an API endpoint to deliver a dynamically generated “content description” based on random keywords. Pretty dumb, I know, but it was good practice.
Security was the next big thing. I implemented rate limiting on the login and registration endpoints to prevent brute-force attacks. I also added CSRF protection to the forms. I used helmet middleware to set secure HTTP headers, like Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options. Also did the thing to prevent XSS.
For deployment, I containerized the application using Docker. I created separate Dockerfiles for the frontend and backend. This made it easy to deploy the application to AWS Elastic Beanstalk. Elastic Beanstalk handled the infrastructure provisioning and scaling, which was super convenient. I configured HTTPS using Let’s Encrypt to encrypt all traffic to and from the site. Gotta look like you’re doing it right, right?
Once deployed, I did some basic testing. I used tools like Postman to test the API endpoints and Lighthouse to check the site’s performance and accessibility. I also ran a security scan using OWASP ZAP to identify any potential vulnerabilities. Fortunately, I didn’t find anything major, but it’s always good to be thorough.
So, that’s pretty much it. A “safe adult site” built purely for learning purposes. I’m not planning on actually making it public or anything. The real value was in the process:
- Sharpening my skills in React, *, and MongoDB.
- Learning about web security best practices.
- Gaining experience with Docker and AWS deployment.
Overall, it was a fun and educational project. If you’re looking for a way to improve your web development skills, I highly recommend trying something similar. Just make sure to keep it ethical and legal, folks!
