Sams Teach Yourself Node.js in 24 Hours

Hour 13. A Socket.IO Chat Server

What You’ll Learn in This Hour:

• Use Socket.IO with Express

• Add and maintain a list of nicknames

• Use callbacks with Socket.IO

• Send messages between connected users

• Create a fully featured chat server with Socket.IO

Express and Socket.IO

In Hour 12, “Introducing Socket.IO,” you were introduced to Socket.IO and how it can be used to send messages in real-time between the browser and the server. In this hour, you see a practical application of Socket.IO—a browser-based chat server. This is another excellent use case for Node.js!

The chat server has the following features:

• It allows users to set a nickname.

• It displays a list of connected users.

• It broadcasts chat messages to all connected users. ...