How to create a chat server for my hostel

[Anupam Dee]

Hello guys i wanna create a chat server-client for my hostel...
i wanna need some guidelines...
how i should begin......

how should i program the server and so many clients chatting at the same time...help me please..

[Anupam Dee]

It can be assumed like the scenario of facebook or google chat...
can i use apache tomacat server for this purpose....or will have to code the server that will run on another server...
just help me please

[Paul Clapham]

I would have thought that after all these years, and everybody and his uncle trying to write a chat server, that by now it would be possible to get a pre-written chat server and install it somewhere. Are you sure you want to write yet another chat server from scratch instead of just getting one which has already been written?

[Anupam Dee]

yes i want to write it again from scratch...
please help me how to begin...
see i know servlet programming and net programming...but how the application would be constructed...that's what i want to know

[john price]

while (true) {
accept client;
put their outputStream to a PrintWriter;
add their socket to a thread;
start the thread;
}

There is to get you started. It's not code, but it'll get you started. If you need a basic example of a client or server, I will give you it. I started making my first one when I found a SUPER simple server/client program (source code) and built off of that.

Good luck,
John Price

EDIT : This is on the server. On the client, you need to do something like this :

Create a socket to connect to the server;
InputStreamReader to the socket;
thread for input from the socket;
thread.start;
Bufferedreader for the InputStreamReader;
printsocket for socket's outputstream;

EDIT (2) : Make the server an Application. Make the client an Application or Applet. Applet will be harder (permissions, signing the JAR files, put it on a website with bandwidth, etc), but more convenient for the user. Application is easier, but less convenient for the user.

[Angus Comber]

Get hold of the Head first Java book. Read the networking and threads chapter (read it all actually). This same chapter has a sample chat client and server. this would make a good start.

You are going to need to know about Java io, sockets and multi-threading. Plus some gui stuff for the client.