📣 Simple Chat Server

A lightweight, zero-dependency TCP chat server built with Node.js.
Supports multiple simultaneous connections, message broadcasting, and a simple terminal-based client.

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Table of Contents

• Features
• Project Structure
• Requirements
• Installation
• Usage
  • Running the Server
  • Connecting Clients
• How It Works
• Architecture Diagram
• Roadmap

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✨ Features

• 🔌 Pure TCP server — no external dependencies
• 👥 Multiple-client support
• 📢 Message broadcasting
• 🖥️ Simple CLI interface
• 🪶 Lightweight, ~50 lines of core logic
• 💡 Perfect starter project for learning sockets or building custom chat protocols

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📁 Project Structure

simple-chat-server/
│
├── simple-server.js # TCP chat server
└── simple-sender.js # Simple terminal client

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🛠️ Requirements

• Node.js 20+
• Terminal for client connections
• TCP port open (default is 4000 unless modified)

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📦 Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/raulingg/simple-chat-server.git
   cd simple-chat-server
   

No dependencies to install — uses only built-in Node modules.

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🚀 Usage

🖥️ Running the Server

node simple-server.js

To change the port, edit the PORT constant in simple-server.js.

Tip: If you plan to run the server on a remote machine, make sure the port is open on the firewall.

💬 Connecting Clients

Open a new terminal window/tab for each client, then run:

node simple-sender.js

Once connected, you can type messages in your terminal. They'll be sent to the server, which will broadcast them to all other connected clients.

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⚙️ How It Works

🖥️ Server (simple-server.js)

• Creates a TCP server using net.createServer()
• Maintains an internal list of active client sockets
• When one client sends a message → broadcasts it to all other connected clients
• Cleans up the client list when a connection closes or errors occur

💻 Client (simple-sender.js)

• Connects to the server using net.Socket()
• Captures user input from the terminal using readline
• Sends entered messages to the server over a TCP connection
• Displays broadcast messages received from the server in real time

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🧩 Architecture Diagram

        ┌─────────────────────────┐
        │      Chat Server        │
        │     (simple-server)     │
        └──────────┬──────────────┘
                   │ broadcasts
       ┌───────────┼──────────────┐
       │           │              │
┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐
│  Client 1 │ │ Client 2  │ │ Client 3  │
│ sender.js │ │ sender.js │ │ sender.js │
└───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘

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🗺️ Roadmap

Potential improvements:

• 🔐 Username / nickname system
• 🔒 TLS encryption
• 📜 Message persistence
• 🗂️ Chat rooms / channels
• 🌐 Web client using WebSockets
• 🔁 Auto-reconnect logic
• 🐳 Dockerfile + Compose setup