Chit-Chat 🌐⚡

Simple real-time chatting application

Overview

Chit-Chat is a real-time chat application that allows users to communicate instantly. The application consists of a Node.js/Express backend and a React frontend, providing a seamless and responsive user experience for real-time messaging.

Technologies Used

Frontend

• React 19
• TypeScript
• Vite (build tool)
• Redux (state management with @reduxjs/toolkit)
• Axios (HTTP client)
• WebSockets (for real-time communication)
• Material Design Icons (@mdi/react & @mdi/js)
• ESLint & Prettier (code quality)

Backend

• Node.js
• Express
• WebSockets (ws package)
• MongoDB (with Mongoose)
• Express Session (authentication)
• UUID (unique identifiers)
• Multer (file uploads)
• CORS
• Jest (testing)
• Nodemon (development)

Project Structure

• backend: Node.js/Express server with WebSocket support

  • controllers: API endpoint handlers
  • service: Business logic
  • repositories: Data access layer
  • models: Data models (in-memory storage)
  • tests: Test files for the backend

• frontend: React application

  • src: Source code
  • public: Static assets

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js - v24.3.0
• npm (v6 or higher)

Installation

1. Clone the repository
2. Install dependencies:

# Install root dependencies
npm install

# Install backend dependencies
cd backend
npm install

# Install frontend dependencies
cd ../frontend
npm install

Running the Application

From the root directory:

# Start both backend and frontend
npm start

# Start only the backend
npm run start:server

# Start only the frontend
npm run start:client

Testing

Backend Tests

The backend includes a comprehensive test suite using Jest. To run the tests:

cd backend
npm test

For more detailed information about the tests, see the backend test README.

Contributing

When contributing to this project, please ensure that you write tests for any new features or bug fixes. Follow the existing test patterns and organization.