Quick MERN Stack Deployment Guide: Heroku & Netlify 🌐

Ready to get your MERN stack project live? Follow this step-by-step guide to deploy your backend on Heroku and your frontend on Netlify.

💾 Backend Deployment with Heroku:
1. Install Heroku:  
   Download and install the Heroku CLI for your operating system.
2. Create a Procfile:  
   In your backend root directory, create a `Procfile` to specify the start script.
3. Environment Setup:  
   Install dotenv in both backend and frontend directories using `npm install dotenv`. Add a `.env` file in your backend root with environment variables like `MONGO_URI` and `PORT`.
4. Heroku Initialization:  
   In your backend root, run `heroku create`. If not logged in, you will be prompted to log in. Then run the command again to initialize.
5. Config Vars:  
   Go to Heroku settings, and under Config Vars, add key-value pairs like the MongoDB URI (e.g., `MONGO_URI`) from Atlas.
6. Deploy to Heroku:  
   Use Git commands to push your backend to Heroku:  
   `git add .`,  
   `git commit -m "deploy"`,  
   `git push heroku master`
7. Domain Configuration:  
   Add your custom domain in Heroku and adjust DNS settings for your domain.

🖥 Frontend Deployment with Netlify:
1. Install Netlify CLI:  
   Run `npm install netlify-cli -g`.
2. Adjust Frontend Code:  
   Update fetch statements in your frontend to use environment variables for backend routes.
3. Environment Variables:  
   Add a `.env` file in the frontend folder with variables like `REACT_APP_BACKEND`.
4. Build Frontend:  
   Run `npm run build` to rebuild your frontend project if necessary.
5. Deploy to Netlify:  
   Navigate to your frontend directory and use `netlify deploy`. Follow the prompts, and when asked to specify the build folder, choose 'Yes' to create a new site and set the build folder to `./build`.

✅ Congratulations!  
Your MERN stack application is now live. Remember, DNS settings can take 48-72 hours to fully propagate ⏱.