BuddyTalk

Real-time Chat example using Node.js + Express.js + SocketIO + Redis

What?

This example demonstrates a real time horizontally scalable chat application capable of serving concurrent clients. We are using the following components to build our chat app:

• Node.js
• Express.js
• Socket.io
• Redis

Features

• Messaging: Private, Group/Room, Broadcast
• Room: Create/Join/Leave
• Dashboard: - Loggedin Nick - Message Board - Log of join/leave (both global & room) - List of loggedin users - List of Rooms
• Horizontal Scalability: Can be scaled out (add more node.js/socket.io servers when you need to serve more clients)

*** To make the example simple, features like unique nick validation, unique room name validation & others have been kept out of the project scope. UI is also a minimalistic one for which I owe thanks to [Ahmad Sharif] (https://github.com/theahmadsharif) for giving some of his valuable minutes!

Install & Run

• Prerequisites: - Node.js - Redis
• Clone the Repository - git clone https://github.com/hasanmansur/BuddyTalk.git
• Run the Redis server with the following commands: - cd /path/to/redis/directory - ./src/redis-server
• Run socketIO server with the following commands: - cd /path/to/BuddyTalk/directory - node index.js
• Open client by entering http://localhost:3000

Oops!!! thts all..by now you should get a form to give your nick :-)

*** For running multiple socketIO servers you might give the following command:

• PORT=3000 node index.js
• PORT=3001 node index.js
• PORT=3002 node index.js & so on...