# Node.js Real-time App
Real-time chat application using services
* Node.js
* Express.js
* Socket.io
* VS-code
### Project Set-up
Open VS-Code editor and make a directory
```bash
mkdir chat-app
cd chat-app
npm init-y
```
npm is initialized in the directory, now you can check **npm --version**
Install Dependencies:
Install dependencies Express.js for building the Web service and Socket.io for real-time communication.
```plaintext
npm install express socket.io
```
---
### Server Set-up
Create a file named 'server.js' and set up a basic Express.js server.
```javascript
const express = require('express');
const http = require('http');
const socketIo = require('socket.io');
const app = express();
const server = http.createServer(app);
const io = socketIo(server);
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.sendFile(__dirname + '/index.html');
});
io.on('connection', (socket) => {
console.log('A user connected');
socket.on('disconnect', () => {
console.log('User disconnected');
});
socket.on('chat message', (msg) => {
io.emit('chat message', msg);
});
});
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;
server.listen(PORT, () => {
console.log(`Server listening on port ${PORT}`);
});
```
In Summery, this code creates a web server using Express.js, sets up a WebSocket server using Socket.io for real-time communication, and defines routes and event handlers to serve HTML content and handle chat messages.
---
### Front-End Setup
Create an HTML file named 'index.html' for the frontend of our chat application
```xml
Simple Chat App
```
### Run the Server
Start the server by running 'node server.js' in the terminal.
```bash
node server.js
```
---
## Test the Application
Open your web browser and navigate to 'http://localhost:3000'. You can open multiple browser tabs to simulate different users. Enter a message in the input field and click "Send". You should see the message appear in real-time in all open tabs.