About The Project
Since my fascination for botany began I have wanted to combine that passion with my
technical
skills. My web conservatory was my first foot in the door. This project serves several
purposes. As
my house plant collection has grown I have found a need to showcase, catalog, and manage my
houseplants. After hours of research into botany in conjunction with my personal experience,
I have
created a profile for each of my house plants. Every profile contains key care information
such as
watering, light, and humidity. The profiles also share interesting information on toxicity,
expected
growth, and the plant's origins. While the website acts as an online catalog it also doubles
as a
plant identification system. Each of my house plants has an identification tag containing a
QR code.
When friends or family have questions about a house plant or possibly want one themself,
they simply
scan the tag, and the plant profile is presented.
The technical architecture behind the sites implements a CI/CD pipeline from my GitHub repo to
an S3
bucket. The architecture behind the website is rather simple, as showcased in the diagram below.
The
simplistic architecture is by design as it allows for straightforward support and modifications.
The
code behind the project is a blend of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Although this website is
currently
static, behind the scenes it is getting a makeover. I am in the process of adding each plant
profile
to a DynamoDB instance. I have created a lambda function to query the DB which can be called
through
an API gateway. Once I have added all plant profiles to the DynamoDB instance I will rewrite the
code to pull from the API on page load. While the cloud architecture, website, and QR are
nothing
groundbreaking in terms of computing, what I would like to focus on is the application of the
technology. Having the option to pull up a plant profile with a click of a button makes
accessing
information simple and easy. This is what I find as the most important part of the project.
Technology is only as powerful as how you choose to use it. Using technology to help others
learn is
where my passions truly lie!
