Study Tracker
A clean, fast study tracker REST API and SPA built with zero Composer dependencies – pure PHP, MySQL, and vanilla JavaScript.
Story behind the project
Frameworks hide how auth, routing, and CRUD actually work. This project is a blueprint for secure, modern web apps without Laravel, React, or npm weight.
Problem statement
Many learning projects jump straight to heavy stacks. That makes it harder to understand token auth, PDO safety, and REST design at the metal.
What was built
A frameworkless PHP API with token-based auth, PDO prepared statements, resource routes, and a modern vanilla JS frontend for tracking study topics with a fast dashboard UX.
- Zero Composer / zero framework backend
- Token-based stateless authentication
- PDO prepared statements against SQL injection
- RESTful route design (?route=...) for CRUD
- Interactive vanilla JS + CSS SPA frontend
Tech used
Core tools and decisions that shaped the implementation.
Source & next steps
Full code, setup notes, and ongoing work live on GitHub. Open the repository to review architecture, run locally, or fork the approach.