TallTalk: A Lightweight Real-Time Chat Application for Scalable and Secure Messaging

Abstract

TallTalk is a real-time chat application built on the MERN stack with Socket.io. It features secure JWT authentication stored in HTTP-only cookies, bcrypt password hashing, and a custom security layer (TallSec) with rate limiting, bot detection, and Helmet headers. The React frontend uses Zustand for state management and supports live messaging, online status indicators, and image sharing via Cloudinary. The application is deployed using Render and the source code is available on GitHub. Performance testing achieved API responses under 200 ms and near-zero WebSocket latency. The thesis demonstrates how functionality, security, and a modern, visually appealing user interface can be balanced in web applications.