💬 SocketChat – Real-Time Chat Application

SocketChat is a real-time web-based chat application developed using Spring Boot WebSocket.
It allows two or more users to chat simultaneously by opening the same hosted link.

The frontend is built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and is served from Spring Boot’s static resources.
The application is Dockerized and deployed on Render.

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🚀 Features

• 🔴 Real-time messaging using WebSocket
• 👥 Multiple users can chat simultaneously
• 🌐 Simple and responsive UI (HTML, CSS, JS)
• 🐳 Dockerized for easy deployment
• ☁️ Hosted on Render
• ⚡ Lightweight and fast once loaded

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🧠 How It Works

• WebSocket establishes a persistent connection between client and server
• Messages are broadcast to all connected users
• Frontend communicates using WebSocket API in JavaScript
• Spring Boot handles message routing and session management

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Backend

• Java
• Spring Boot
• Spring WebSocket

Frontend

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript

DevOps / Deployment

• Docker
• Render Cloud Platform

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🌍 Live Demo

🔗 **Deployed URL: **
https://socket-chat-pwla.onrender.com

(Render may take 10–15 minutes to start if the app is idle)

⚠️ Note: Render spins down inactive services, so the first load may be slow.

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🐳 Docker Setup

Build Docker Image

docker build -t socketchat 

Run Container

docker run -p 8080:8080 socketchat 

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▶️ How to Run Locally

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/SocketChat.git

Navigate to the project

cd SocketChat

Run Spring Boot application

mvn spring-boot:run

Open browser

http://localhost:8080