🎯 Authentication Strategy
- Landing Page Transformation Header Update: Add Login/Signup buttons in top-right corner
Remove direct exam access: "Get Started" should lead to signup/login
Public access: Only the landing page (/) remains public
- Global Authentication Approach We have several options:
Option A: Interceptor/Filter (Recommended) Create a @Component interceptor that checks all routes except / and /auth/*
Automatically redirects unauthenticated users to login
Clean, centralized, no repetitive code
Option B: Method-level annotations Create custom @RequireAuth annotation
Apply to controller methods
More granular but requires annotation on every method
Option C: Continue manual checks Keep adding session checks to each controller method
Most repetitive but simple to understand
- Route Protection Strategy Public Routes:
- / (landing page)
- /auth/* (login, signup, logout)
Protected Routes (require authentication):
- /dashboard
- /exams
- /exam/*
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Insert at cursor 4. Header Navigation Logic Unauthenticated: Show Login/Signup buttons
Authenticated: Show user name + Dashboard link + Logout
- Implementation Plan Create authentication interceptor
Update landing page header with auth buttons
Remove manual session checks from controllers (interceptor handles it)
Update all templates to show appropriate navigation
Test authentication flow
🚀 Recommended Approach I suggest Option A (Interceptor) because:
DRY principle: No repetitive session checks
Centralized logic: Easy to modify auth rules
Automatic protection: New routes are protected by default
Clean controllers: Focus on business logic, not auth
Would you like me to implement this approach? The interceptor will:
Check if route needs authentication
Verify user session exists
Redirect to login if not authenticated
Allow request to proceed if authenticated
This way, we remove all the manual session.getAttribute("userId") checks from controllers and handle authentication globally.
What do you think of this approach?