📝 Smart Notes

A modern, feature-rich desktop note-taking application built with JavaFX and Java 17, following a clean MVC architecture. Smart Notes lets you create, organise, search, and manage your notes with a polished, theme-switchable UI.

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✨ Features

• Create & Edit Notes — Add notes with a title, content, and a custom tag/category
• Tag System — Organise notes into categories; type a new tag or pick from existing ones
• Search — Real-time search across note titles, content, and tags
• Category Sidebar — Filter notes by category with live note counts
• Dark / Light Mode — Toggle between dark and light themes at any time
• Auto-Save — Notes are automatically saved to disk every 30 seconds
• Save on Close — Notes are persisted whenever the app is closed
• Delete with Confirmation — Safe deletion with a confirmation dialog
• Draggable Dialogs — The note editor dialog is fully draggable

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Technology	Version	Purpose
Java	17+	Core language
JavaFX	21.0.2	Desktop UI framework
Gson	2.10.1	JSON serialisation / deserialisation
Maven	3.x	Build & dependency management

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📋 Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• JDK 17 or later — Download OpenJDK
• Apache Maven 3.6+ — Download Maven

Note: JavaFX is not bundled with the JDK (since Java 11). The javafx-maven-plugin handles downloading and wiring it up automatically — you don't need to install JavaFX separately.

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🚀 Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/smart-notes.git
cd smart-notes

2. Run the application

mvn javafx:run

That's it! Maven will download all dependencies and launch the app.

3. Build only (without running)

mvn compile

4. Clean build artifacts

mvn clean

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🗂️ Project Structure

smart-notes/
├── pom.xml                                  # Maven build config & dependencies
├── .gitignore
├── .vscode/
│   ├── launch.json                          # VS Code run configuration
│   └── settings.json
└── src/
    └── main/
        ├── java/com/notesapp/
        │   ├── MainApp.java                 # Application entry point
        │   ├── controller/
        │   │   └── MainController.java      # Handles all user interactions
        │   ├── model/
        │   │   ├── Note.java                # Note domain model
        │   │   └── NoteRepository.java      # In-memory note store
        │   ├── service/
        │   │   └── NoteService.java         # Business logic layer
        │   ├── util/
        │   │   ├── JsonPersistence.java     # Save/load notes as JSON
        │   │   └── LocalDateTimeAdapter.java# Gson adapter for LocalDateTime
        │   └── view/
        │       └── MainView.java            # JavaFX UI layout & components
        └── resources/
            └── styles.css                   # Application stylesheet

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🏛️ Architecture

The project follows a clean MVC (Model-View-Controller) pattern:

┌─────────────┐     callbacks      ┌──────────────────┐
│  MainView   │ ◄─────────────────► │  MainController  │
│  (JavaFX)   │                    │                  │
└─────────────┘                    └────────┬─────────┘
                                            │
                                            ▼
                                   ┌──────────────────┐
                                   │   NoteService    │  ← Business logic
                                   └────────┬─────────┘
                                            │
                              ┌─────────────┴──────────────┐
                              ▼                            ▼
                     ┌────────────────┐         ┌──────────────────┐
                     │ NoteRepository │         │ JsonPersistence  │
                     │ (in-memory)    │         │ (disk storage)   │
                     └────────────────┘         └──────────────────┘

Layer	Class	Responsibility
View	MainView	Renders the UI; fires callbacks on user actions
Controller	MainController	Wires view events to service calls; manages state
Service	NoteService	Business logic: create, update, delete, search, filter
Repository	NoteRepository	In-memory ObservableList<Note> store
Persistence	JsonPersistence	Serialises notes to/from JSON on disk
Model	Note	Immutable ID, title, content, tag, timestamps

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💾 Data Storage

Notes are persisted as a JSON file on your local machine:

OS	File Location
Windows	C:\Users\<you>\.smart-notes\notes.json
macOS / Linux	~/.smart-notes/notes.json

The directory and file are created automatically on first launch. You can back up or transfer your notes by copying this file.

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⌨️ Running from VS Code

A pre-configured launch config is included in .vscode/launch.json.

1. Open the project folder in VS Code
2. Install the Extension Pack for Java (by Microsoft)
3. Press F5 → select "Run via Maven (mvn javafx:run)"

Why not just press the ▶ Run button on MainApp.java?
The standard Java run button launches the class directly without passing --module-path and --add-modules for JavaFX — causing the "JavaFX runtime components are missing" error. Always use mvn javafx:run.

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🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m "Add my feature"
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/my-feature
5. Open a Pull Request

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📄 License

This project is open source. Feel free to use, modify, and distribute it.