TypeScript Real-Time Chat App

Project Overview

This Chat App is a modern chat application designed for seamless communication between friends. Users can send friend requests and engage in real-time chats powered by Socket.IO. Prioritizing security, the app employs JSON Web Tokens (JWT) and bcrypt for secure password hashing, ensuring user data remains safe. Built with React (using TypeScript) for the frontend and Node.js with Express for the backend, along with PostgreSQL for efficient data management.

The Engineering Challenge

Ensuring strict end-to-end type safety between client sockets and backend event emitters.

Architecture & Implementation

Shared TypeScript interfaces for socket payloads, JWT auth middleware, and relational PostgreSQL message tables.

Key Technical Highlights

• —Instant friend requests and acceptance system
• —Real-time two-way messaging with Socket.IO
• —Profile customization and secure password hashing with bcrypt
• —Persistent chat history storage in PostgreSQL

Results & Learnings

• —Zero type mismatch between client and server socket listeners
• —Reliable relational data modeling for user friendships