/rust-chat-app

Primary LanguageRust

Rust Chat App 🚀

A multi-client chat application built in Rust, featuring a TCP server and client logic for real-time messaging. This project demonstrates the power of Rust's concurrency and networking capabilities while maintaining safe, efficient, and scalable code.

Features 🌟

  • Multi-client support: Connect multiple clients to the server simultaneously.
  • Real-time messaging: Messages are broadcast to all connected clients.
  • Thread-safe communication: Utilizes Rust's mpsc channels for safe message passing.
  • Asynchronous handling: Non-blocking socket operations for seamless performance.

Table of Contents

  1. Project Overview
  2. Setup and Installation
  3. Server Logic
  4. Client Logic
  5. How to Run
  6. Future Enhancements
  7. Contributing

Project Overview

This chat application is divided into two parts:

  1. Server: A TCP-based server that manages client connections and broadcasts messages to all connected clients.
  2. Client: A TCP client that connects to the server and allows users to send and receive messages in real time.

Setup and Installation

Prerequisites

  • Rust installed on your system. You can install it via rustup.
  • A terminal to run the server and client instances.

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/dexter-xD/tcp_server_rust.git  
cd tcp_server_rust

Server Logic

The server listens on a specified address and port (127.0.0.1:8080 by default) and handles the following:

  1. Accepting incoming client connections.
  2. Receiving messages from clients.
  3. Broadcasting messages to all connected clients.

Code Highlights:

  • Non-blocking Sockets: Allows seamless communication without halting the server.
  • Concurrency with Threads: Each client connection is handled in its own thread.
  • Message Broadcasting: Uses an mpsc channel to safely share messages across threads.

You can find the server code in the server.rs file.

Client Logic

The client connects to the server, enabling users to:

  1. Send messages to the server.
  2. Receive messages broadcast by the server.

Features:

  • Handles server disconnection gracefully.
  • Provides an intuitive terminal-based interface for chatting.

Client logic will be implemented in Part 2 of this project. Stay tuned for updates!

How to Run

Running the Server

  1. Navigate to the server directory.
  2. Run the server: 
    cargo run --bin server
  3. The server will start listening for connections on 127.0.0.1:8080.

Running the Client

  1. Navigate to the client directory.
  2. Run the client: 
    cargo run --bin server

Stay tuned for updates and happy coding! 🦀