Chat Proxy

This project was developed as an educational resource for the course Network Programming in the Software Engineering program at ITESM (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey).

It demonstrates core concepts of client-server communication using Java sockets, including session management, message routing, and basic concurrency handling.

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Project Structure

The project is organized into three modules:

• chat-proxy-shared: Shared classes used by both client and server (e.g., message models, protocol definitions).
• chat-proxy-server: Server application that manages client connections and routes messages between clients.
• chat-proxy-client: Simple Swing-based client application to connect and exchange messages through the server.

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Main Features

• TCP-based communication between server and clients
• Simple message routing by user session
• Basic concurrency for handling multiple client connections
• Minimal Swing GUI for user interaction
• Designed for educational and demonstration purposes

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Technologies

• Java Standard Edition
• Java Sockets
• Java Swing (for the client GUI)

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Java Development Kit (JDK) 8 or higher
• Maven (optional, if you want to build from the command line)

Build and Run

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/antoniovl/chat-proxy.git
   cd chat-proxy

2. Build the project:

   If you are using Maven:

   mvn clean install

3. Run the Server:

   From the chat-proxy-server/target directory (or your IDE):

   java -jar chat-proxy-server-*.jar

   Or run the main class directly from your IDE:
   mx.icon.chatproxy.server.Main

4. Run the Client:

   From the chat-proxy-client/target directory (or your IDE):

   java -jar chat-proxy-client-*.jar <server-ip-address>

   Or run the main class directly from your IDE:
   mx.icon.chatproxy.client.ChatJFrame, passing the server's IP address as an argument.

5. Connect Clients:

   • Start with two clients.
   • In one of the clients, enter the other client's IP address and press "Start Chat with IP Addr".
   • Once the connection is established, type a message into the input field and press "Send".
   • The message should appear on the other client's screen.

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Notes

• The server must be started before connecting clients.
• Clients must connect to the server using its IP address and a predefined TCP port. You can adjust the port configuration in the source code if needed.

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Purpose

This project was created to help undergraduate students:

• Understand low-level networking concepts through practical examples
• Build intuition around TCP connections, sessions, and message routing
• Gain experience with basic concurrent server design
• Connect theory from lectures with hands-on programming exercises

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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Acknowledgments

Developed as part of the Network Programming course in the Software Engineering career at ITESM.