networking_typingofdict

Lightweight TCP messaging library with auto-reconnect, JSON protocol, broadcast & event-driven API. Pure Node.js net module — no HTTP, no browser, no heavy dependencies.

Features

• Event-driven API — TCPServer and TCPClient extend EventEmitter
• JSON messaging protocol — automatic encode/decode with newline-delimited JSON
• Auto-reconnect — client reconnects automatically on disconnect
• Broadcast — send to all connected clients at once
• Client management — track connected clients by ID, disconnect individually
• Zero dependencies — only uses Node.js built-in modules

Install

npm install networking_typingofdict

Quick Start

Server

const { TCPServer } = require('networking_typingofdict');

const server = new TCPServer({ port: 8080 });

server.on('connection', ({ id }) => {
  console.log(`Client ${id} connected`);
});

server.on('message', ({ id, data }) => {
  console.log(`From client ${id}:`, data);
  server.send(id, { reply: 'ok' });
});

server.on('disconnect', ({ id }) => {
  console.log(`Client ${id} disconnected`);
});

server.start().then(() => console.log('Server listening on :8080'));

Client

const { TCPClient } = require('networking_typingofdict');

const client = new TCPClient({
  port: 8080,
  host: '127.0.0.1',
  reconnect: true,           // auto-reconnect on disconnect
  reconnectInterval: 3000    // retry every 3 seconds
});

client.on('connect', () => {
  console.log('Connected to server');
  client.send({ type: 'hello', name: 'Alice' });
});

client.on('message', (data) => {
  console.log('Server says:', data);
});

client.on('disconnect', () => {
  console.log('Disconnected');
});

client.connect().catch(console.error);

API

TCPServer

| Method | Description | |--------|-------------| | new TCPServer({ port, host }) | Create server (default: port 8080, host 0.0.0.0) | | server.start() | Start listening. Returns Promise. | | server.stop() | Stop server & disconnect all. Returns Promise. | | server.send(clientId, data) | Send JSON message to specific client | | server.broadcast(data) | Send JSON message to all clients | | server.disconnect(clientId) | Force-disconnect a client | | server.getClientIds() | Get array of connected client IDs |

Events: connection, message, disconnect, error

TCPClient

| Method | Description | |--------|-------------| | new TCPClient({ port, host, reconnect, reconnectInterval }) | Create client | | client.connect() | Connect to server. Returns Promise. | | client.disconnect() | Disconnect. Returns Promise. | | client.send(data) | Send JSON message to server |

Events: connect, message, disconnect, error

Utility Functions

| Function | Description | |----------|-------------| | encodeMessage(obj) | Encode object to newline-delimited JSON string | | decodeMessages(buffer, leftover) | Decode buffer into { messages, leftover } |

License

MIT