Implementing a room-based chat application

One of the most common types of real-time application is messaging systems, and chat applications are a good example of such a category. In this recipe, we will build a web chat where users will log in using a nickname, and once logged in, they will be able to create and join rooms. After joining a room, they will be able to post messages and see what other users say. The application will, of course, miss many of the functionalities that we usually find in a chat application, but it should be good enough to showcase a concrete usage of several SignalR features, namely the following:

• Calling methods on a hub from the client

• Triggering client-side callbacks from the server

• Using the Groups API

Getting ready

Our application will consist of the following:

• A Hub called ChatHub, which will handle things such as the login process, rooms management, and message broadcasting.

• A page for the client part, named index.html, that displays the list of available rooms...