Creating a chat app in React and socket.io

April 24, 2025

Written by: Jonas Ståleker

As part of my thesis work, I had to learn how to use Socket.io to enable live chatting. I found an awesome 5 hour tutorial on YouTube, and after about 8–10 hours of work, it looks great and works like a charm. If you’re looking to improve your web development skills, I definitely recommend checking it out!

Here’s what I used to build it:

• React +Vite
• Socket.io
• .Net + Express
• Tailwind CSS + daisyUI
• Toast (love this little pop up add on)
• and few other bits and bobs

I’d love to share the full project, but that would probably crash the tiny bit of server space I have . Instead, I’ll share the tutorial!

Till next time!