NFramework

A lightweight, annotation-based networking framework that enables easy client-server communication using a custom request-response model.

🚀 What I Learned from Building NFramework

Developing NFramework has been an insightful journey. It deepened my understanding of network programming, request handling, and method invocation in Java. While WebSockets and REST APIs are widely used, building a custom networking framework allowed me to explore serialization, annotation-based APIs, and direct method execution on the server.

This project reinforced key lessons about protocol design, performance considerations, and structured communication between a client and a server. It also helped me appreciate the strengths of WebSockets and REST APIs while giving me the freedom to experiment with a custom approach.

🔥 Why NFramework is Interesting

✔️ Annotation-based API for defining endpoints.
✔️ Lightweight with no external dependencies.
✔️ Supports serializable object transmission.
✔️ Custom request-response model for optimized performance.
✔️ Easy-to-use client with simple execute() calls.
✔️ Automatic method invocation on the server.

While NFramework isn’t meant to replace existing solutions, it serves as a learning tool and a practical alternative for handling lightweight request-response models efficiently.

🛠 Installation & Setup

1️⃣ Download the JAR Files

Get the latest release of NFramework Server & Client JARs from the Releases Page and include them in your project.

2️⃣ Setting Up the Server

📥 Required Imports

import com.thinking.machines.nframework.server.*;
import com.thinking.machines.nframework.server.annotations.*;

🛠 Implementation

@Path("/banking")
public class BankService {
    @Path("/branchName")
    public String getBranch(String city) {
        return city.equals("Mumbai") ? "Colaba" : "Unknown Branch";
    }
}

🔧 Starting the Server

import com.thinking.machines.nframework.server.*;

public class BankServer {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        NFrameworkServer server = new NFrameworkServer();
        server.registerClass(BankService.class);
        server.start();
    }
}

3️⃣ Creating a Client

📥 Required Imports

import com.thinking.machines.nframework.client.*;

🛠 Implementation

public class BankClient {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            NFrameworkClient client = new NFrameworkClient();
            String branch = (String) client.execute("/banking/branchName", "Mumbai");
            System.out.println("Branch: " + branch);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

4️⃣ Running the Framework

# Run the Server
java -cp nframework-server.jar BankServer

# Run the Client
java -cp nframework-client.jar BankClient

📌 Expected Output

Branch: Colaba

⚡ Future Enhancements

• Configurable port selection (currently hardcoded to 5500).
• Improved exception handling for better debugging.
• Performance optimizations and async request handling.

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. Feel free to modify and contribute!

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NFramework – A Simple Yet Insightful Networking Experience 🚀