Chat Application (Polling vs WebSocket)

This project contains two implementations of a simple single-room chat application:

• One using HTTP polling with Express
• One using WebSocket with the websocket npm library

The goal of this project is to compare and understand different real-time communication methods in Node.js.

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Live Demo

Both implementations are deployed and publicly accessible:

WebSocket version

• Frontend: https://pratiamaladen-frontend.hosting.codeyourfuture.io
• Backend: https://pratiamalden-chatapp-websocket.hosting.codeyourfuture.io

Polling version

• Frontend: https://chatapp-frontend.hosting.codeyourfuture.io
• Backend: https://chatapp-server.hosting.codeyourfuture.io/messages

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Features

• Single shared chat room
• Multiple users can join and exchange messages
• Real-time message updates
• Message reactions (like / dislike)
• Basic message history
• Simple browser-based UI

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Tech Stack

• Node.js
• Express (polling version)
• WebSocket using the websocket npm package
• HTML, CSS, JavaScript (frontend)
• No database (messages stored in memory)

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Project Purpose

This project is primarily built for:

• Learning real-time communication concepts
• Understanding the difference between polling and WebSocket communication
• Practicing backend and frontend interaction

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Project Structure

Chat-Application/
├── polling/
│   ├── backend/
│   │   ├── index.mjs
│   │   └── utils.mjs
│   └── frontend/
│       ├── index.html
│       ├── css/
│       │   └── style.css
│       └── js/
│           ├── app.mjs
│           └── utils.mjs
│
├── websocket/
│   ├── backend/
│   │   ├── index.mjs
│   │   └── utils.mjs
│   └── frontend/
│       ├── index.html
│       ├── css/
│       │   └── style.css
│       └── js/
│           ├── app.mjs
│           └── utils.mjs
│
├── package.json
├── package-lock.json
└── README.md

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16+ recommended)
• npm

Setup

Clone the repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/PratiAmalden/Chat-Application.git
cd Chat-Application
npm install

Dependencies are shared across both implementations using the root package.json.

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Running the Polling Version

1. Start the server:

   node polling/backend/index.mjs

2. Open the frontend:

   • Open polling/frontend/index.html directly in your browser or
   • Serve it using a simple local server

3. The app will connect to the polling backend and simulate real-time updates by regularly requesting new messages.

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Running the WebSocket Version

1. Start the backend:

   node websocket/backend/index.mjs

2. Open the frontend:

   • Open websocket/frontend/index.html in your browser or
   • Serve it through a local server

3. This version uses persistent WebSocket connections for true real-time communication.

Future Improvements

• Multiple chat rooms
• Proper user accounts (persistent identities stored server-side)
• Authentication and basic authorization
• Message history with database
• UI improvements
• Typing indicators and read receipts