Chat Server using Sockets in C

simple chat server and client application using the poll system call (Posix API)for handling multiple input sources asynchronously (stdin and socket). It is implemented in C using sockets.

Files

• server.c:code for the chat server , which listens for incoming connections and communicates with the client.
• client.c: code for the chat client , which connects to the server and allows for sending and receiving messages.

Requirements

you need:

• C compiler (gcc)
• Linux/Unix environment ( to be able to use Posix )

How it Works

• Server:

  • The server listens for connections on port 8080(you can change it ) using the TCP protocol.
  • Once a client connects, it can receive messages from the client and send messages back to the client.
  • The poll system call is used to wait for input from either the stdin (to send messages) or the client socket (to receive messages).

• Client:

  • The client connects to the server using the IP address 127.0.0.1 (localhost) on port 8080.
  • Similar to the server, it uses poll to handle inputs from both stdin (to send messages) and the server (to receive messages).

Compilation

To compile both the server and client, run:

gcc -o server server.c
gcc -o client client.c