Chat Server - Rust (Siftach)

This project is a learning-focused TCP chat server built in Rust. It is designed as a starting point for a more complex distributed chat system.

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Features (Siftach / Initial Stage)

1. TCP server listening on 127.0.0.1:8080
2. Accepts a single client connection
3. Reads messages from the client and prints to stdout
4. Echoes the message back to the client
5. Handles message boundaries using \n
6. Supports a simple JSON message protocol with fields:

{ "type": "message", "user": "username", "text": "hello" }

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Requirements

• Rust >= 1.70
• Cargo
• Dependencies:

[dependencies]
serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "1.0"

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Installation & Running

git clone <repo-url>
cd chat-server
cargo run

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Manual Testing

1. Open terminal 1 → run the server:

   cargo run

2. Open terminal 2 → connect as a client:

   telnet 127.0.0.1 8080

3. Send a JSON message:

   { "type": "message", "user": "zviel", "text": "hello" }

4. Verify the server prints the message and the client receives the echo back.

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File Structure

src/
 ├── main.rs       # Entry point
 ├── connection.rs # TcpStream management
 ├── protocol.rs   # Parsing and message definition

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Next Steps

• Multi-client support
• Async / Tokio
• Rooms / Channels
• Authentication
• TLS / Security
• Distributed nodes

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Rules for Siftach Stage

1. No async yet
2. Only valid JSON messages are accepted
3. Avoid unnecessary cloning
4. Document each module clearly

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How This Helps Learning Rust

• Understand ownership and borrowing
• Handle streaming data safely
• Manage TCP connections and message boundaries
• Set up modular architecture for future async and distributed features