Simple Chat Application

This project is a basic implementation of a multi-client chat application using Python's socket and threading modules. It includes two main components:

1. server.py: The server script to handle multiple clients and broadcast messages.
2. client.py: The client script to connect to the server and send/receive messages.

Features

• Multiple clients can connect to the server and communicate with each other.
• Each client selects a nickname upon connecting to the server.
• Messages are broadcast to all connected clients.
• Clients are notified when a user joins or leaves the chat.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x

Running the Server

1. Open a terminal or command prompt.
2. Navigate to the directory containing server.py.
3. Run the server script:

   python server.py

The server will start listening for incoming connections on 127.0.0.1:55555.

Running the Client

1. Open a terminal or command prompt.
2. Navigate to the directory containing client.py.
3. Run the client script:

   python client.py

4. Enter a nickname when prompted.

You can run multiple instances of client.py to simulate multiple clients connecting to the server.

How It Works

server.py

• The server binds to a specified host and port (127.0.0.1:55555).
• It listens for incoming connections and handles each client in a separate thread.
• It maintains lists of connected clients and their nicknames.
• It broadcasts messages received from any client to all other connected clients.
• If a client disconnects, it removes the client from the list and notifies the remaining clients.

client.py

• The client connects to the server at the specified host and port.
• It prompts the user to choose a nickname.
• It starts two threads: one for receiving messages from the server and another for sending messages to the server.
• It handles receiving the initial nickname prompt from the server and sends the chosen nickname.
• It continuously reads user input and sends messages to the server.

Example

1. Start the server:

   python server.py

2. Start a client:

   python client.py

   Choose a nickname when prompted.

3. Start additional clients in separate terminals:

   python client.py

   Choose different nicknames for each client.

4. Send messages from any client. All connected clients will receive the messages.

Acknowledgements

This project was created as a simple demonstration of using sockets and threading in Python to build a basic chat application.

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Enjoy chatting!