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Remote Classroom Quiz System

A real-time quiz/vote application with Chat/Discussion Feature using Java Network Programming.

🏗️ Architecture

  • TCP Server (Port 8088) - Multi-threaded server handling student connections
  • HTTP Server (Port 8090) - RESTful APIs and web interface
  • Student Client - Console-based TCP client
  • Web UI - Browser-based interface for students and instructor
  • Chat System - Real-time discussion feature for students

✨ New Feature: Chat/Discussion Room 💬

The chat feature allows students to discuss quiz questions and results in real-time:

Features:

  • Real-time messaging - Instant broadcast to all connected students
  • Instructor moderation - Enable/disable chat at any time
  • Message history - Store up to 100 recent messages
  • Thread-safe operations - Concurrent message handling using ConcurrentLinkedQueue
  • Web & TCP support - Chat accessible from web UI and TCP clients
  • System notifications - Automatic messages when chat is enabled/disabled

How to Use Chat:

For Instructors:

  1. Open Instructor Panel: http://localhost:8090/instructor.html
  2. Use chat controls:
    • enablechat - Enable chat for discussion (CLI)
    • disablechat - Disable chat (CLI)
    • clearchat - Clear all messages (CLI)
    • Or use buttons in the web panel
  3. Click "Open Chat Room" to monitor discussions

For Students (Web):

  1. Open Chat Room: http://localhost:8090/chat.html
  2. Enter your name to join
  3. Send messages when chat is enabled
  4. View real-time messages from other students

For Students (TCP Client):

  • Chat messages appear automatically in the console
  • Messages prefixed with 💬 username
  • System messages shown in brackets

👥 Team Member Responsibilities

Member 1: TCP Server (MainServer.java)

  • Concept: TCP ServerSocket, Thread Pool
  • Files: src/server/MainServer.java
  • Create ServerSocket on port 8088
  • Use ExecutorService with 16 threads
  • Implement instructor CLI commands
  • New: Chat management commands (enablechat, disablechat, clearchat)

Member 2: Client Handler (ClientHandler.java, JsonUtil.java)

  • Concept: Socket I/O, Protocol Design
  • Files: src/server/ClientHandler.java, src/server/JsonUtil.java
  • Handle individual client connections
  • Parse and send JSON messages
  • Implement communication protocol
  • New: Implement ChatListener interface for message broadcasting

Member 3: HTTP Server & Web UI (HttpDashboard.java, web/*)

  • Concept: HTTP Protocol, RESTful APIs
  • Files: src/server/HttpDashboard.java, web/*
  • Create HTTP server on port 8090
  • Implement REST endpoints
  • Build web interface (HTML, CSS, JS)
  • New: Chat HTTP endpoints (/chat/messages, /chat/send, /chat/enable, etc.)

Member 4: Student Client (StudentClient.java)

  • Concept: TCP Client Socket, Async I/O
  • Files: src/client/StudentClient.java
  • Connect to server
  • Send/receive messages
  • Display quizzes and results
  • New: Handle incoming chat messages and display in console

Member 5: Data Management (Models.java, ChatManager.java, etc.)

  • Concept: Thread Safety, Concurrency
  • Files: src/server/Models.java, src/server/ChatManager.java, src/server/QuizManager.java, src/server/VoteManager.java
  • Thread-safe quiz and vote management
  • Atomic operations
  • Concurrent data structures
  • New: ChatManager with ConcurrentLinkedQueue for thread-safe messaging

🚀 How to Build and Run

Compile:

compile-all.bat

Run Server:

run-server.bat

Run Client:

run-client.bat

Open Web UI:

http://localhost:8090/index.html
http://localhost:8090/student.html
http://localhost:8090/instructor.html
http://localhost:8090/chat.html

📝 Message Protocol (JSON)

Client to Server:

{"type":"JOIN","name":"Alice"}
{"type":"ANSWER","answer":"B"}
{"type":"CHAT","message":"Great question!"}
{"type":"PING"}

Server to Client:

{"type":"QUIZ","id":1,"question":"What is 2+2?","options":["3","4","5","6"]}
{"type":"RESULT","counts":[1,15,2,0],"correct":1}
{"type":"ACK","message":"Answer recorded"}
{"type":"CHAT","id":5,"username":"Bob","message":"I think it's B","timestamp":1699564800000}
{"type":"chatCleared","message":"Chat history has been cleared"}
{"type":"PONG"}

🎯 Network Programming Concepts

  • TCP Socket Programming (ServerSocket, Socket)
  • Multithreading (ExecutorService, Thread Pools)
  • Thread Synchronization (Atomic classes, ConcurrentHashMap, ConcurrentLinkedQueue)
  • HTTP Protocol (HttpServer, RESTful APIs)
  • Client-Server Architecture
  • JSON Protocol Design
  • Asynchronous I/O
  • Message Broadcasting - One-to-many communication pattern
  • Observer Pattern - ChatListener interface for event notification
  • Thread-Safe Collections - ConcurrentLinkedQueue for chat messages

📚 Technologies

  • Java SE 11+
  • TCP Sockets
  • HTTP Server (com.sun.net.httpserver)
  • HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript
  • JSON

✅ Testing

  1. Start server
  2. Connect multiple clients
  3. Create quiz via web interface
  4. Start quiz from instructor panel
  5. Submit answers from students
  6. Reveal answer from instructor panel
  7. Enable chat: enablechat
  8. Open chat room: http://localhost:8090/chat.html
  9. Send messages and see real-time updates
  10. Check web UI at http://localhost:8090

🆕 Chat Feature Testing

Test Scenario 1: Basic Chat

  1. Start server
  2. Open chat.html in multiple browser tabs
  3. Join with different names
  4. Enable chat from instructor CLI: enablechat
  5. Send messages from different tabs
  6. Verify messages appear in real-time on all tabs

Test Scenario 2: Moderation

  1. With chat enabled and messages flowing
  2. From instructor CLI, run: disablechat
  3. Verify students cannot send messages
  4. Run: enablechat to re-enable
  5. Verify chat is active again

Test Scenario 3: Clear History

  1. Send several messages
  2. From instructor CLI, run: clearchat
  3. Verify all messages are cleared for all users
  4. System message appears notifying users

Test Scenario 4: TCP Client Chat

  1. Start server, enable chat
  2. Connect TCP client: run-client.bat
  3. Join with a name
  4. Send messages from web chat
  5. Verify TCP client receives and displays chat messages in console

Course: Network Programming (5th Semester)
Project Type: Multi-threaded Client-Server Application with Real-time Chat
New Feature: Chat/Discussion System with Thread-Safe Broadcasting