Project Overview

Connect Hub is a foundational social networking platform developed entirely in Java. It uses Swing for the frontend and core Java for the backend. The platform allows users to manage accounts, create posts and stories, manage friendships, and update profiles. A file-based database (JSON format) is used for simplicity, with a focus on security, usability, and collaborative development.

Project Objective

The goal of this project is to create a functional social networking platform with the following features:

• User Account Management: Signup, login, logout, and user status tracking.
• Profile Management: Update profile details, view posts, and manage friends.
• Content Creation: Create posts and stories.
• Friend Management: Send/accept friend requests, block/remove friends, and view friend suggestions.
• Newsfeed: Display posts, stories, and friend statuses.

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Features

1. User Account Management

• Backend (Java):

  • Signup, login, and logout functionalities.
  • Input validation (email format, required fields).
  • Password hashing using MessageDigest or java.security.
  • Track user status (online/offline).
  • Store user attributes in a file-based database (JSON format).

• Frontend (Swing):

  • Signup and login forms with error handling.
  • Logout button to update user status.
  • Display user status on the newsfeed page.

2. Profile Management

• Backend (Java):

  • Update profile details (profile photo, cover photo, bio, password).
  • Fetch and display user posts and friends list.

• Frontend (Swing):

  • Profile management page for editing details.
  • Display user posts and friends list with online/offline status.

3. Content Creation (Posts and Stories)

• Backend (Java):

  • Create posts (permanent) and stories (temporary, expire after 24 hours).
  • Store content attributes (contentId, authorId, content, timestamp).
  • Automatically delete expired stories.

• Frontend (Swing):

  • Newsfeed section for creating posts and stories.

4. Friend Management

• Backend (Java):

  • Send/accept/decline friend requests.
  • Suggest friends not in the user's friend list.
  • Block or remove friends.
  • Display friend statuses (online/offline).

• Frontend (Swing):

  • Friend management interface for requests, suggestions, and blocking/removing friends.
  • Display friend statuses on the newsfeed page.

5. Newsfeed Page

• Backend (Java):

  • Fetch and serve posts, stories, friend lists, and suggestions.

• Frontend (Swing):

  • Display posts, stories, friend lists, and suggestions.
  • Content creation area and refresh button.

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Security and Database Management

• Security:

  • Passwords are hashed using secure techniques (e.g., SHA-256 or bcrypt).
  • Input validation for all forms.
  • Error handling for failed login attempts.

• Database Management:

  • File-based database using JSON format.
  • Optimized file structures to minimize redundancy and improve access speed.
  • Relationships between users and content are maintained (e.g., linking user IDs to posts).