Direct Demo Link: https://www.twine.net/signin

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The main goals of the application were:

To create a simple, user-friendly platform for recording meals and tracking calorie consumption.
To build a maintainable and scalable codebase using Ruby.
To practice model–view–controller (MVC) principles and object-oriented programming (OOP) design.
To integrate external data sources for enhanced meal tracking accuracy.

METHODOLOGY

The project began with designing a relational database schema that accurately represents the relationships between users, meals, and ingredients. The core models implemented include:

User Model – stores personal details and authentication information.
Meal Model – stores each user’s meals, including meal names and dates.
Ingredient Model – defines ingredients along with their caloric content.
Portion Model – serves as a join table linking meals and ingredients, including a quantity field.

Each meal is associated with a user and contains one or more ingredients through portions, which track the quantity of each ingredient used. This normalised design ensures data consistency and allows for flexible querying.

Development followed an iterative approach, implementing and testing features incrementally. Git was used for version control, and thorough documentation was maintained to ensure code clarity and maintainability.

EXTERNAL FOOD API INTEGRATION

To provide users with an extensive food database, the application integrates with an external food API. This allows users to:
Search for ingredients and meals from a comprehensive food database.
Retrieve accurate nutritional information, including calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrates.
Automatically populate the application’s ingredient database with API data, reducing manual input.

This integration enhances the accuracy and usability of the application, ensuring users can log meals efficiently without needing to manually enter detailed nutritional information.

KEY FEATURES IMPLEMENTED

User Registration and Login: Secure authentication and password storage.
Structured Database Schema: Efficiently linking users, meals, ingredients, and portions.
Meal Logging: Users can select ingredients (from local database or API) and specify quantities for each meal.
Calorie Calculation: Automatic computation of total meal and daily caloric intake based on ingredient data.
Basic Reporting: Visualisation of daily and weekly calorie consumption trends.
External Food API Integration: Access to a large database of ingredients and nutritional data for precise meal tracking.

RESULTS

The project produced a functional prototype of a meal and calorie tracking application entirely implemented in Ruby. It demonstrates the ability to design and develop a software product from scratch, integrating both technical and domain knowledge, while leveraging external data sources for added value.