chat-app-backend

Version 3.0.0

Description

Backend server code for a simple chat application using HTTP long polling instead of Websockets. Written in Nodejs using ExpressJS.
(Please note, this is the server repo, for frontend client, visit : chat-app-frontend)

Prerequisites

Make sure NodeJS v12.x is installed along with npm (node package manager)
Make sure mysql v8.x is installed on your local.

Getting Started

Clone Repository and checkout

git clone https://github.com/shivamshekhar/chat-app-backend && cd chat-app-backend

Install Gulp CLI

sudo npm i -g gulp

Install modules

npm i

Run Db migrations

sudo mysql -u root -p < ./scripts/mysql/db.sql

Run app

npm run start

Verify that app is running successfully by visiting following url in browser

http://localhost:4000/test

If app is running successfully, you'll see following message

{
    message : "App is running successfully"
}

Scope of improvement

Short Term

~~Made a frontend web client for this server.~~
~~Implement more functionality like adding a friend/contact, etc.~~
Improve the auth and session token logic and make it more secure.
Improve long polling logic to make it work in cluster mode.

Long Term

Make an android client.
~~Reformat the code, and use Typescript instead of NodeJS.~~
Introduce clustering to run multiple processes.

Author

Shivam Shekhar
shivamshekhar299@gmail.com