Simple chat application using node and socket.io.
DB: This application uses a mongo DB the URL and credentials are currently in the project and are using mlabs as a test platform.
Dependancies:
- socket.io
- express
- easymongo devDependancies:
- nodemon
Install project
- npm install
run project
- npm start (this will load nodemon dev server)
Viewing:
- localhost:3000
Features: Basic functionality allows the user to create a chatroom, it allows other users to join the chatroom if they use the link provided.
When a new user joins a chat they are given the previous chat history to keep up to date with what's going on.
When login in the user can set a username so they can be itentified.
All Chat messages are stored on a posts database that stores the username thay send the message, the message and the chat ID. To search a chat we can search for the chatroom ID and they the search term (User or word in message).
The DB is MongoDB and is hosted on mlabs for easy of development.
Users are also stored.
Features not implemented: One of the main features that was not implemented was blocking a user, this was because of time constraints on my part. This would be a welcome feature for future improvements of the app. My thoughts on implementing this would be to add an 'X' or item next to the username, when this is clicked the user can confirm they want to block this user, the user will then be blocked on the database and be refused login next time.
Improvements: A number of areas can be improved on this app, one major improvement would be better handling of errors and failures. Error handling could be greatly improved when handling socket connects and while retrieving data from databases.
Testing can also be added to the application. The application has only been tested manually so far.