TCP Chat Application

A barebones TCP-based chat application with a React frontend. This project demonstrates the fundamentals of TCP networking in Go while providing a modern web interface for user interaction.

Overview

This project consists of two main components:

1. TCP Server (Go)

   • Handles raw TCP connections
   • Manages chat rooms and clients
   • Implements basic chat commands
   • Provides WebSocket bridge for web clients

2. Web Client (React)

   • Modern user interface for the chat
   • Real-time message updates
   • Room management
   • Connection status monitoring

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Go 1.19 or higher
• Node.js 16 or higher
• Make

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone http://github.com/omniflare/tcp-server-go

# Start both server and client
cd client && npm run dev
cd server && go build && ./server

Available Chat Commands

• /name <username> - Set your display name
• /join <room> - Join a chat room
• /rooms - List all available rooms
• /msg <message> - Send a message to your current room
• /quit - Disconnect from the chat

Project Structure

.
├── server/         # Go TCP server
│   ├── main.go
│   ├── client.go
│   ├── server.go
│   ├── room.go
│   └── model.go
├── client/         # React frontend
│   ├── src/
│   ├── public/
│   └── package.json
├── Makefile
└── README.md

How It Works

The application uses raw TCP connections for the core chat functionality. When a client connects (either through telnet or the web interface), they can interact with the chat server using text-based commands.

For web users, a WebSocket bridge translates between WebSocket connections and TCP connections, allowing seamless integration with the TCP server.

Development Status

⚠️ Note: This is a barebones implementation focused on demonstrating TCP networking concepts. For a more scalable and feature-rich chat application, check out my upcoming project built with NestJS and GraphQL (coming soon).

Future Development

I am currently working on a more robust and scalable version of this chat application using:

• NestJS for backend services
• GraphQL for efficient data querying
• Real-time subscriptions
• Proper user authentication
• Message persistence
• And much more!

Stay tuned for the improved version!

Running with Telnet

You can also connect to the chat server directly using telnet:

telnet localhost 8080

This allows you to interact with the server using raw TCP connections.

License

MIT License - feel free to use this code for learning and development!