Chatter-Real Time Chat Application

This project is a full-stack web application built using the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js) and Socket.IO for real-time communication.

Features

• Real-time messaging: Users can send and receive messages instantly.
• Online user status: The application displays the online status of users, providing insights into who is currently active.
• User authentication: Secure user authentication system ensures that only authorized users can access the chat application.

Technologies Used

• MongoDB: A NoSQL database used to store user information and chat messages.
• Express.js: A Node.js web application framework used for building the backend server.
• React.js: A JavaScript library used for building the frontend user interface.
• Node.js: A JavaScript runtime used to run the server-side code.
• Socket.IO: A library that enables real-time, bidirectional and event-based communication between web clients and servers.

Installation

To run this application locally, follow these steps:

1. Clone this repository to your local machine.

2. Navigate to the project directory in your terminal.

3. Install the dependencies by running npm install in the root directory.

4. Create a .env file in the root directory and add the following environment variables:

   DB_URL=

   JWT_SECRET=

   NODE_ENV=

   Replace http://localhost:5000 with the appropriate URLs for your backend server.

5.npm run build

6. Start the development server by running npm start.

7. Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:5000 to view the application.

Demo

You can view a live demo of the application https://chatter-j0dv.onrender.com/

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you would like to contribute to this project, please fork the repository and submit a pull request.