Intermediate~10 hours

Real-Time Chat Application

websocketsnode.jsreactfull-stack

Project Brief

Build a real-time chat application with rooms, user nicknames, typing indicators, and message history. The backend uses Node.js with Socket.io; the frontend is React. Users can create/join rooms, send messages instantly, and see who's typing.

Requirements

→Node.js + Express + Socket.io backend
→React frontend with real-time message updates
→Create and join named chat rooms
→Choose a nickname on join
→Real-time message sending and receiving
→Typing indicator ('User is typing...')
→Show online users in each room
→Message timestamps
→Auto-scroll to latest message
→Basic message history (in-memory or SQLite)
→Responsive design

Milestones

Set up Node.js + Express + Socket.io server. Create a React frontend that connects to the socket server. Verify the connection works with a test message.

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