Real-Time Forum

A real-time web forum application built with Go and WebSockets, enabling live user communication through posts, comments, and private messaging.

Authors

• Hamza Maach
• Yassine Elmach

Features

User Authentication

• Registration with comprehensive user details:
  • Nickname
  • Age
  • Gender
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Email
  • Password
• Login using nickname/email and password
• Secure session management
• Real-time online/offline status tracking

Content Management

• Single Page Application (SPA) architecture
• Create and read posts
• Comment on posts
• Multiple category associations for posts

Private Messaging System

• Real-time private messaging between users
• Online/offline user status display
• Message history
• Message sorting by recent activity
• Message format includes:
  • Timestamp
  • Sender information
  • Message content

Project Structure

real-time-forum/
├── cmd/
│   └── main.go           # Application entry point and server initialization
├── server/
│   ├── api/              # RESTful API routes and WebSocket endpoint definitions
│   ├── config/           # Environment configurations and application settings
│   ├── controllers/      # HTTP handlers and WebSocket message handlers
│   ├── database/         # Database files (database.db, schema.sql, etc)
│   ├── middlewares/      # Request middleware (auth, rate limiting, etc)
│   ├── models/           # Data models and database query methods
│   ├── utils/            # Helper functions
│   └── validators/       # Request payload validation and sanitization
├── web/
│   ├── assets/
│   │   ├── css/           # Application styles and layout definitions
│   │   ├── js/            # Frontend logic and WebSocket client implementation
│   │   └── images/        # Static image resources
│   └── index.html      # Single page application entry point
├── dockerfile       # Container configuration for deployment
├── go.mod           # Go dependencies and module configuration
└── README.md        # Project documentation

Technologies

Backend

• Go 1.22+
• SQLite3 database
• Gorilla WebSocket for real-time communication
• bcrypt for password hashing
• UUID for session management

Frontend

• HTML5 & CSS3
• Font Awesome icons
• Vanilla JavaScript (No frameworks)
• WebSocket API
• Single Page Application architecture

Development & Deployment

• Docker containerization

Technical Requirements

WebSocket Implementation

• Real-time message delivery
• Online status updates
• Connection state management
• Error handling and reconnection logic

Frontend Features

• Throttled/debounced scroll events for message loading
• Dynamic content rendering without page reloads
• Real-time UI updates
• Responsive design

Database Schema

• Users table with extended profile information
• Messages table for private communications
• Online status tracking
• Session management
• Posts and comments with real-time capabilities

View the detailed database schema here.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Go 1.22 or higher
• SQLite3
• Docker (optional)

Local Development

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/hmaach/real-time-forum
   cd real-time-forum

2. Install Dependencies

   go mod download

3. Run the Application

   go run cmd/main.go

   Access the forum at http://localhost:8080

Docker Deployment

1. Build and run using Docker:

   docker build -t real-time-forum .
   docker run -p 8080:8080 real-time-forum

API Documentation

WebSocket Endpoints

• /ws/chat - Private messaging connection

HTTP Endpoints

• POST /api/register - User registration
• POST /api/login - User authentication
• GET /api/messages/:userId - Fetch message history
• POST /api/posts - Create new post
• POST /api/comments - Create new comment