Binary KLV Chat System

Overview

This project focused on building a complete chat system from the protocol layer up, using a binary message format instead of plain text to gain stronger control over data structure and parsing.

What I Learned

I learned how system-level networking concepts, concurrency, and protocol design fit together in a real application where correctness depends on both low-level data handling and software structure.

What I Accomplished

I built a working multi-threaded client-server chat system with a JavaFX interface, binary KLV messaging, concurrent client handling, history retrieval, and real-time communication.

Comp Sci Learning Goals

• Attained stronger system-level understanding through sockets, binary protocols, multithreading, and synchronization.
• Understood software design by structuring client and server responsibilities around a custom communication protocol.
• Acquired significant project experience through building a complete end-to-end networking system.
• Developed effective problem solving skills by debugging protocol parsing, concurrency issues, and real-time communication flow.

University Wide Leaning Goals

• Critical Thinking: reasoned through concurrency, message structure, and protocol correctness.
• Creativity: designed a custom binary KLV protocol instead of relying on a simpler text-based format.
• Collaboration: strengthened collaborative engineering habits through project planning and system-level thinking.
• Communication: built a project centered on communication itself, both in the user experience and in the protocol design.
• Global Responsibility: emphasized dependable networking behavior, clean disconnect handling, and consistent shared-state management.