overview
Chatter is a web app centered around a global chat system. It features chat rooms that are isolated from each other. Each user can connect to it without requiring an account to keep implementation simple.
learning_points
Websockets were a new concept for me when I started this project and it taught me how to implement them in a web app.
Vue.js was also a new framework for me to learn and it was a great experience to work with as it showed me beyond React. Personally, I much prefer Vue.js over React due to its simplicity to program with.
Testing was a big part of this project as I wanted to learn how to test in a Vue.js environment as well as Node.js for the backend. I used Jest for the backend and Vitest for the frontend.
original_inception
The original inception of this project was created by me in grade 8 with PHP and a MySQL database running on phpMyAdmin. Futhermore, most of the development was completed on an old Acer chromebook emulating Ubuntu. It was actually more advanced than this version in that it had an account system. However, the chat system used HTTP polling which was very inefficient and it never saw the light of day. And yes, JQuery was used to sync app state with the DOM, I miss those days...
Another cool fact, the logo used in both this project and Chatter Reborn is the same one I made in grade 8 with Adobe Illustrator on a school computer. That is its only remains as Google Drive was used as version control...
images
