Core Concepts

Welcome to the core concepts section of our documentation. This guide will introduce you to the fundamental building blocks and principles that power our platform. Understanding these concepts is crucial for effectively utilizing our tools and services.

1. Architecture Overview

Our platform is built upon a modular, scalable architecture designed for flexibility and performance. It consists of several key components:

Frontend Services: Handles user interactions and presentation logic.
Backend APIs: Provides data access and business logic through RESTful interfaces.
Data Storage: Utilizes a robust database system for persistence.
Background Workers: Process asynchronous tasks and scheduled operations.

2. Data Models

Understanding our data models is key to interacting with the system. Here are some of the primary entities:

User Entity

Represents an individual user of the platform. Key attributes include:

userId (UUID, Primary Key)
username (String, Unique)
email (String, Unique)
createdAt (DateTime)
updatedAt (DateTime)

Resource Entity

Represents a digital asset managed by the platform. Key attributes include:

resourceId (UUID, Primary Key)
name (String)
type (String, e.g., 'document', 'image')
ownerId (UUID, Foreign Key to User)
storagePath (String)
createdAt (DateTime)

3. Authentication and Authorization

Security is paramount. We employ industry-standard methods for ensuring only authorized users can access specific resources and perform actions.

Authentication: Verifies the identity of a user. We support:

Token-based authentication (JWT).
OAuth 2.0 for third-party integrations.

Authorization: Determines what authenticated users are allowed to do. This is managed through roles and permissions.

4. API Interaction

Our backend APIs follow RESTful principles. You'll typically interact with them using HTTP requests.

Common HTTP Methods:

GET: Retrieve data.
POST: Create new resources.
PUT: Update existing resources.
DELETE: Remove resources.

Example: Fetching User Data

To fetch user data, you would send a GET request to the appropriate endpoint:

GET /api/v1/users/{userId}
Authorization: Bearer

The response would typically be in JSON format:

{
  "userId": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-1234-567890abcdef",
  "username": "johndoe",
  "email": "john.doe@example.com",
  "createdAt": "2023-10-27T10:00:00Z",
  "updatedAt": "2023-10-27T10:00:00Z"
}

5. Error Handling

We provide clear error messages to help you diagnose issues. API errors typically return a JSON object with details:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "The requested resource could not be found.",
    "details": "Resource ID: some-invalid-id"
  }
}

Tip: Always check the HTTP status code along with the error response for a complete understanding of the issue.

Next Steps

Now that you have a grasp of the core concepts, you might want to explore:

Advanced Features to learn about more complex functionalities.
API Reference for detailed endpoint descriptions.
Code Samples to see these concepts in action.