weChat — Let's make Friends 💬

A Terminal-Based C++ OOP Chat Application

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🚀 Quick Start

# Compile
make

# Run
./weChat

Or without make: run build files (build.bat if Windows CMD and build.sh if Shell) and you're good to go!

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📁 Project Architecture

weChat/
├── main.cpp                  ← Entry point, main application loop
├── 🔵 object
│   ├── main.o ← Object file forked from main.cpp
├── 🔺 release
│   ├── weChat_v1.0.exe ← All the versions creating after every compile you do.
    ...
    ...
├── 📂 data/                     ← Auto-created at runtime
│   ├── users.dat             ← Persisted user accounts
│   └── rooms.dat             ← Persisted rooms + members + messages
└── 📂 include/
    ├── Utils.h               ← Colors, helpers, timestamp, code gen
    ├── Message.h             ← Message class + Payload<T> template + ISerializable
    ├── Person.h              ← Person (abstract) → Contact, AccountHolder
    ├── User.h                ← User (multiple inheritance) → Admin (multilevel)
    ├── Room.h                ← BaseRoom (abstract) → Room, AnnouncementRoom
    ├── FileManager.h         ← File I/O with template methods
    ├── AppState.h            ← Singleton state manager + polymorphism
    └── UI.h                  ← All terminal screens and user interaction

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✅ C++ OOP Concepts Covered

Concept	Where
Classes & Objects	All header files
Array of Objects	vector<User>, vector<Room>, vector<Message> in AppState/Room
Object References	AppState&, Room&, function parameters
Memory Allocation	new AppState() / delete instance in singleton
Default Constructor	All classes
Parameterised Constructor	All classes
Copy Constructor	Message, User, Room, Person, Contact, AccountHolder
Destructor	All classes; virtual in hierarchy
Function Overloading	addMessage(), findRoom(), showMenu(), sendMessage()
Operator Overloading	==, <, +, +=, <<, >> (cin/cout), explicit cast
Type Conversion	User→string, Room→string, Message→string
Static Members	totalMessages, totalRooms, totalAccounts, onlineCount
Friend Functions	operator<< and operator>> in Message, User, Person, Room
cin/cout Overloading	operator>> for Message input; operator<< for display
Single Inheritance	Contact ← Person, AccountHolder ← Person
Multiple Inheritance	User ← Contact + AccountHolder
Multilevel Inheritance	Admin ← User ← (Contact,AccountHolder) ← Person
Hierarchical Inheritance	Room ← BaseRoom, AnnouncementRoom ← BaseRoom
Virtual Base Class	virtual Person in Contact & AccountHolder (solves diamond)
Compile-time Polymorphism	Function overloading, operator overloading
Runtime Polymorphism	virtual displayInfo(), getRole(), getType()
Pointer to Derived Class	BaseRoom* br = room; br->displayInfo(); in AppState
Abstract Base Class	Person, BaseRoom, ISerializable (pure virtual methods)
Virtual Functions	displayInfo(), getRole(), getType(), getMemberCount()
Templates	Payload<T>, FileManager::appendToFile<T>, readFromFile<T>
File Handling	fstream in FileManager — users.dat, rooms.dat

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🖥 Features

• User Accounts: Register with name, email, phone, username & password
• Secure Storage: Passwords stored as hash (std::hash), never plaintext
• Create Rooms: Create public or private chat rooms
• Join Rooms: Join any room using the 6-character room code
• Real-time Chat: Send and receive messages inside rooms
• Member Lists: View all members in a room
• Profile View: See your own account details
• Statistics: View global stats (users, rooms, messages)
• Full Persistence: All data saved to files, reloaded on next run

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💡 How to Use

1. Start the app → choose Register or Login
2. Register → fill in your details
3. Login → enter username & password
4. Dashboard → create a room or join one
5. Create Room → note the join code shown on screen
6. Share the code with a friend → they use "Join Room"
7. Chat → select a room from "My Rooms" and start messaging

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🔧 Requirements

• g++ with C++17 support (g++ --version)
• Linux / macOS / WSL on Windows
• Terminal with ANSI color support (most modern terminals)