Chat Application

Welcome to the Chat Application! This application allows users to sign up, log in, and engage in real-time conversations with other users. You can easily see who is online or offline and initiate a chat by clicking on the avatar icon.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Getting Started
• Technologies Used
• Installation
• Usage
• Contributing
• License

Features

• User Registration: Sign up and create a new account to access the chat features.
• User Login: Existing users can log in with their credentials.
• Online/Offline Status: Users can see the online or offline status of other users.
• Avatar Icon: Click on the avatar icon to initiate a chat with a user.
• Real-time Chat: Engage in real-time conversations with other users.
• User-friendly Interface: Intuitive and responsive design for a seamless chatting experience.

Getting Started

To use this Chat Application, you need to follow these steps:

1. Sign Up: Create a new account by providing your username, email, and password.
2. Login: After signing up, log in with your credentials to access the application.
3. Chat: Once logged in, you can see the list of users and their online/offline status. Click on the avatar icon of the person you want to chat with, and the chat window will open.

Technologies Used

This Chat Application is built using the following technologies:

• Frontend:

  • React.js: A JavaScript library for building user interfaces.
  • Redux: A predictable state container for managing application state.
  • HTML5 and CSS3: For structuring and styling the user interface.
  • WebSocket: For real-time communication between users.

• Backend:

  • Node.js: A JavaScript runtime environment for the server-side.
  • Express.js: A web application framework for Node.js.
  • MongoDB: A NoSQL database for storing user information and chat messages.

Installation

Follow these steps to set up the Chat Application:

1. Clone the repository to your local machine.
2. Install Node.js and npm if you haven't already.
3. Navigate to the project directory and run the following commands:

npm install       // Install dependencies for the backend
cd client
npm install       // Install dependencies for the frontend
cd ..

Usage

To start the Chat Application, run the following command:

npm start

This command will concurrently start the backend server and the frontend development server.

Access the application by opening your browser and navigating to http://localhost:3000/.

Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community to improve this Chat Application. If you encounter any issues or have ideas for enhancements, please submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. Feel free to use, modify, and distribute it for personal or commercial purposes.