Chat Application

Overview

This project is a school project that implements a simple chat application developed using C# with a WPF client and a TCP server. It demonstrates client-server communication, enabling users to send messages and receive updates in real-time. The application is structured to allow easy extensibility and maintainability, utilizing principles such as dependency injection and event-driven architecture.

Features

• User and System Messages: Handles both user-generated text messages and system messages (e.g., user status updates).
• Event-Driven Architecture: Utilizes events for communication between the client and server, ensuring a responsive user experience.
• Dependency Injection: Employs DI for better separation of concerns and improved testability.
• Robust Connection Management: Establishes and manages TCP connections securely and reliably.
• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Designed to run on any system that supports .NET.

Architecture

The application is divided into several key components:

• Client: A WPF application that allows users to connect to the server, send messages, and receive updates.
• Server: A TCP server that manages client connections, handles incoming messages, and broadcasts events to all connected clients.
• Communication Layer: Handles the serialization and deserialization of events between the client and server.
• Event Management: Centralized event handling through an EventFactory for consistency across the application.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• .NET 8.0 or later
• Visual Studio 2022 or later (or any compatible IDE)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/luca-weinert/chatApp
   cd chat-app

2. Open the solution file (ChatApp.sln) in Visual Studio.

3. Restore the NuGet packages:

   dotnet restore

4. Build the solution:

   dotnet build

Running the Application

1. Start the server by running the server project (ChatApp.Server).
2. Open a new instance of the client project (ChatApp.Client.Wpf).
3. Enter the server IP address and port and connect.
4. Start chatting!

Usage

• Send Messages: Type your message in the text box and hit "Send."

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or fix.
3. Make your changes and commit them.
4. Push to your branch.
5. Create a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to the contributors of open-source libraries used in this project.
• Special thanks to the developers who inspired this project through their work.

Contact

For any inquiries, please reach out to:

• Luca Weinert
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: Luca Weinert