I Built a Movie Streaming Site in Hours - Here&#s How It Went

I Built a Movie Streaming Site in 48 Hours - Here's How It Went

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a couple of movie streaming sites that didn’t seem to have any backend at all. They were using APIs like TMDB to pull movie data and vidsrc.dev to stream the actual videos. That got me thinking: "Why not try this out myself?" What if I could build something similar—a movie streaming site—but with no backend, just React and a couple of clever APIs?

So, I decided to challenge myself. I set myself a 48-hour challenge to build a movie streaming site. No backend, no databases—just React for the frontend, and some APIs to pull in movie data and handle streaming. I thought, "I'll start from scratch, see where I get, and learn a ton along the way."

If you're a developer, you know the feeling of wanting to tackle something big. I had spent a lot of time learning React, following tutorials, and building small projects. While those were fun and educational, I wanted something more challenging—something real. Something I could actually use. A movie streaming site seemed like the perfect idea.

Why? Well, movie streaming sites are everywhere, right? But not all of them have complex backends; some use simple APIs to pull in movie data and stream content. I figured I could do the same, learn a lot about React, and, of course, end up with a fun little project to share with others. But what really motivated me was the idea of getting my hands dirty and building something useful from the ground up. It wasn't about perfection or even about getting everything right—it was about building something that worked and then figuring out how to improve it.

The Journey: Starting the Project

Once I had the idea, I jumped straight into building the site. The first step was setting up the React app. The initial setup was smooth—I was familiar with React, thanks to all those tutorials I'd done. However, the real challenge started when I had to connect everything together.

The core of the site was pulling movie data from TMDB—one of the most popular movie databases. I also needed a way to stream movies, and that's where vidsrc.dev came in. It was simple enough: I'd use TMDB to fetch movie titles, posters, and details, and then pull the actual streaming links from vidsrc.

But here’s the thing—React is great for building the UI, but when it comes to structuring an app with a lot of components and logic, it can get a bit messy. I had a lot of repeated code. The movie streaming page and the series streaming page had almost identical code for displaying the media, handling errors, and rendering the interface. I didn’t initially think much about reusability, and it ended up biting me in the long run.

It wasn’t just about repeating code—it was about the lack of structure. Instead of reusing components and creating a more modular approach, I copied and pasted a lot of logic. This led to some technical debt and, let’s be honest, less-than-clean code. But at the time, I was more focused on getting something working fast rather than getting everything perfect.

What Went Wrong: The Ugly Truth of My Code

The code works, but it’s far from perfect. Like I mentioned earlier, there’s a lot of repeated code. The way I structured the movie and series streaming components isn’t scalable. For instance, I hardcoded too much, and now it’s become difficult to add new features without touching a lot of existing code.

The movie and series parts of the app are essentially identical. I didn’t create reusable components or break down the logic into manageable pieces. Now, I’m planning to revisit the code and refactor it. The plan is to make it more modular by breaking it down into smaller components that can be reused. I also want to abstract out logic into functions that handle common tasks, like fetching data or rendering components, so I don’t have to repeat myself.

This is a major step in improving the maintainability of the project. Instead of just throwing code together to meet a deadline, I need to focus on making the app scalable and cleaner. I’m also thinking about using something like Tailwind CSS to improve the styling and make the app more responsive. I’ve already learned how to make the UI work on small screens, but I could definitely improve the design and user flow to make it more polished.

What’s Next: Improving and Expanding the Project

Even though the site is up and running, there’s still a lot I want to do with it. The next steps are crucial for turning it into something that’s not just functional but professional.

First, I’m planning to refactor the code to improve reusability. I’ll rewrite the components to make sure that they can be reused in different parts of the site without duplicating logic. This will make adding new features (like user authentication or movie recommendations) much easier.

Speaking of user authentication, I’m considering using PocketBase to handle user accounts. This would allow users to sign up, log in, and personalize their movie experience—maybe even save their favorite movies or create custom playlists. It’s one of the things I wish I had time for during the initial 48 hours, but it’s definitely on the roadmap.

Another exciting idea I’m exploring is building a desktop version of the app using Tauri. Tauri would allow me to package the React app into a native desktop application for Windows, Mac, and Linux. This would open up a whole new level of accessibility for users and make the streaming experience more seamless.

The Bigger Picture: Growth, Learning, and Moving Forward

At the end of the day, the whole experience was about growth. Building this site taught me a lot—not just about React, but also about problem-solving, time management, and the importance of refactoring. The project didn’t turn out perfect, but it was a massive learning opportunity.

And here’s the thing: I’m not finished yet. There are still so many areas to improve, and I’m excited to tackle them. I don’t have all the answers right now, but I’m committed to learning and improving. That’s the beauty of development—it’s not about getting everything right the first time; it’s about iterating and growing over time.

So, to anyone out there thinking of starting a project—don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Even if your code isn’t perfect at first, you’ll learn so much along the way. And who knows? Maybe your next 48-hour project will turn into something even bigger and better.

I will be doing more projects, so stay tuned for more.

Find the site at https://lensloria.netlify.app/
Find the code at https://github.com/Debronejacobs/React-Based-Web-App-for-Streaming-Movies-and-TV-Shows.git

The above is the detailed content of I Built a Movie Streaming Site in Hours - Here&#s How It Went. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!