maxim-mazurok/nodejs-ws-chat

Simple chat on WebSockets, using NodeJS with Express.

nodejs-ws-chat

Simple chat on WebSockets, using NodeJS with Express.

This project was created by Maxim Mazurok during a teaching session to showcase use of WebSockets to students.

Demo

Demo is deployed to heroku and can be acceced by this URl: https://nodejs-ws-chat.herokuapp.com/

(It may take a couple of minutes to start sleeping server)

You can open this URL on multiple devices, or in different browser tabs (simulating multiple chat users). Type your message and hit enter or press send button. Message will be recieved by all other currently opened instances of the app.

Getting started

1. Clone repo:

git clone https://github.com/Maxim-Mazurok/nodejs-ws-chat

2. Install dependecies:

npm install

3. Install and run ngrok: Note: ngrok is not required, I'm using it to make WebSockets work on local environment and to share url to other devices

npm install --global ngrok

4. Run the server:

npm start

5. Open chat: After starting server, run ngrok http 8080 and open provided https://xxxxxx.ngrok.io page on multiple devices, or in different browser tabs (simulating multiple chat users). Type your message and hit enter or press send button. Message will be recieved by all other currently opened instances of the app.