J Chat - A basic LAN messaging application

As part of a Java programming unit I am just coming to the end of at Uni, I’ve written J Chat, a simple instant messaging application for local networks which I thought I would post up here.

It’s available as a .jar file which means that this file can run on Windows, Mac, and Linux just as long as it has Java installed.

You can use J Chat to communicate with any other machines on your local network. It doesn’t use contact lists - any machine that runs the program on your network will appear in the list of contacts which makes it nice and simple to use.

J Chat hasn’t been designed to work over the internet - so you will only be able to chat with people on the same network as you (in your home/office/school).

I learned loads making J Chat, and I’d really like to be able to add some features. Stuff like sound alerts and custom nick-names would be great. Being able to save conversations would be a nice touch too. All these are pretty achievable, so I hope to add them at some point.

Please remember that this application doesn’t provide any encryption/protection of messages, and it only works on local networks (not across the internet) - so bear that in mind if you plan to use it yourself.

You’ll need to have Java installed on all the machines you want to run it on.