Special Relativity Simulator

An interactive simulator for visualizing scenarios in special relativity. Built with a Vue 3 frontend and Django REST backend.

TODO's

• Create an API client and configure the port number using an environment variable instead of hardcoding it in each request.

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🛠️ Tech Stack

• Frontend: Vue.js 3, TypeScript, Vite, Vuetify, Two.js
• Backend: Django 5.2, Django REST Framework
• Package Manager: pnpm

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⚙️ Development Setup

📦 Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• Node.js (v18+ recommended)
• pnpm (instead of npm)
• virtualenv or venv for Python

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🔧 Backend Setup

1. Navigate to the backend/ directory:

   cd backend

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # or use `venv\Scripts\activate` on Windows

3. Install Python dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Set up environment variables:

   Create a .env file in the backend/ directory and add:

   DEBUG=True
   SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here  # generate your own with `python3 -c "from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key; print(get_random_secret_key())"`
   ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost,127.0.0.1
   CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000,http://127.0.0.1:3000
   CORS_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS=True

5. Run the Django server:

   python manage.py runserver

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🎨 Frontend Setup

1. Navigate to the frontend directory (where package.json is located):

   cd frontend

2. Install dependencies using pnpm:

   pnpm install

3. Start the development server:

   pnpm dev

This will concurrently run both the Vite frontend and Django backend.

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