Synapse: Collaborative Study Platform (Academic Project) by Daniil BiiakovSynapse: Collaborative Study Platform (Academic Project) by Daniil Biiakov

Synapse: Collaborative Study Platform (Academic Project)

Daniil Biiakov

Desktop Apps Development

Docker

GitHub

Java

Education

🧠 Synapse — Collaborative Study Platform

Synapse is an educational platform designed to facilitate collaborative learning. It allows students to form study groups, manage shared tasks, solve problems together, and exchange resources in a centralized environment.

The project is implemented as a distributed system consisting of two distinct parts:

Backend (Server): REST API & WebSocket server built with Spring Boot.

Frontend (Client): A rich desktop application built with JavaFX.

🏗️ System Architecture

The application follows a Client-Server architecture. The JavaFX client acts as a "thick client," handling presentation logic and state management, while the Spring Boot server handles business logic, persistence, and security.

flowchart LR
  subgraph Client [JavaFX Desktop App]
    UI[Reactive UI] <--> Store[State Store]
    Store <--> Service[Async Service Layer]
  end

  subgraph Server [Spring Boot Backend]
    API[REST Controllers]
    WS[WebSocket Handler]
    DB[(Database)]
    Sec[Spring Security]
  end

  Service -->|REST / JSON| API
  Service <-->|STOMP / WebSocket| WS
  API --> DB
  API --> Sec

🔧 Backend Overview (Server)

The server side is a robust REST API application providing the core logic for the platform.

Key Technologies

Framework: Spring Boot 3

Security: Spring Security (Session-based)

Real-time: WebSockets (STOMP) for notifications

Testing: JUnit & Mockito

Containerization: Docker (for app and test execution)

🔐 Security & Architecture Decision

The application uses Session-based Authentication (Stateful).

Note: While REST APIs typically strive for statelessness (using JWT), this project deliberately uses Session Cookies (JSESSIONID). Given that the client is a JavaFX Desktop Application (Rich Client) rather than a browser-based SPA (like React), maintaining a session state is a valid and efficient architectural choice that simplifies security context management.

📚 API Documentation

The full API specification is available via Swagger UI (requires the backend to be running):

URL: http://localhost:8080/swagger-ui/index.html

💻 Frontend Overview (Client)

The client is a modern JavaFX application that leverages a Reactive Architecture to ensure a responsive user experience.

Key Features

Centralized State Management: Uses a Store Pattern (similar to Redux). Controllers do not store data; they bind to ObservableLists in Stores (TaskStore, GroupsStore).

Reactive UI: Views like "Today" and "Upcoming" are live FilteredList views of a single master data source.

Real-Time Sync: Integrates a custom StompClient (Java 11 HttpClient + WebSocket) to receive push notifications about new tasks, files, or invites instantly.

Thread Safety: All network I/O is asynchronous (CompletableFuture), with UI updates safely marshaled to the JavaFX Application Thread.

Tech Stack

Java 21

JavaFX (FXML + CSS)

Gson (JSON Serialization)

ControlsFX (Notifications & UI components)

🚀 Setup and Execution

Prerequisites

Java JDK 21

Maven 3.9+

Docker (Optional, for containerized backend run)

1. Running the Backend

You can run the backend locally or via Docker.

# Using Maven
mvn spring-boot:run

# OR using Docker
docker-compose up --build

Once started, verify the API is running at http://localhost:8080.

2. Running the Frontend

Open the Frontend module in your IDE or run via terminal:

cd Frontend
mvn clean javafx:run

📸 Screenshots

Like this project

Posted Jan 3, 2026

Developed client-side UI & logic using JavaFX for a collaborative study platform. Integrated with Java backend for real-time sync. Academic project at STU.

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Timeline

Nov 20, 2025 - Dec 10, 2025