Jots: A Simple Twitter Clone

Overview

Jots is a rudimentary Twitter clone designed to explore basic functionalities of a social media platform. Users can post short messages, follow specific "channels" (akin to topics), and receive real-time notifications about new content in the channels they follow. This project serves as a learning tool for backend development, database interactions, and real-time communication using WebSockets.

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Table of Contents

• Project Overview
• Features
• Tech Stack
• Setup and Installation
• Next Steps

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Features

• Post "jots" (short messages)
• Follow/unfollow channels
• View jots based on channels
• Real-time notifications for new posts in followed channels
• User authentication (login/signup)

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Tech Stack

• Backend: Go
• Database: MySQL
• Real-time Communication: WebSockets, Redis
• Frontend: Basic HTML/CSS
• Libraries:
  • github.com/go-redis/redis/v8
  • github.com/gorilla/websocket
  • github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql

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Setup and Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/jots-app.git
cd jots-app

2. Install Dependencies

Ensure Go is installed on your machine. Install the necessary Go modules by running:

go mod download

3. Setup MySQL Database

Create a MySQL database and update the dsn in the db.go file with your database credentials. Example:

dsn := "your_user:your_password@tcp(127.0.0.1:3306)/jots_db"

4. Setup Redis

Ensure Redis is running on your machine or use a remote Redis instance. Update the Redis connection settings in the redis.go file if necessary.

go mod download

5. Run the Application

Once all the dependencies are set up, run the application using the following command:

go run main.go db.go models.go handlers.go redis.go

Next Steps

•	Enhance Frontend: Add more user-friendly design and UI features.
•	User Profiles: Implement individual user profile pages.
•	Direct Messaging: Introduce a direct messaging feature between users.
•	Likes and Comments: Add functionality for users to like and comment on jots.
•	Search: Implement a search functionality to find jots or users.