SimulQ: Real-time Collaborative Document Editing System

Overview

SimulQ is a real-time collaborative editing platform, embodying extensive research into real-time document editing systems. This platform empowers users to collaboratively edit and interact with documents in real-time, enhancing productivity in individual and team settings.

Its purpose is to serve as a reference project on how a real-time collaborative editing system should be developed. This will help many others that want to start building something of their own in this way. Raise issues or contact me whenever you feel like there is something wrong, or want more detailed explanation on something in particular

Key Features

• Real-time Document Editing: Facilitates simultaneous document editing and collaboration among multiple users.

• Cutting-edge Technologies: Built with modern web development technologies and methodologies for optimal performance.

• Scalable and Efficient: Engineered to be intuitive, efficient, and scalable, accommodating a growing user base.

• Authentication: Via JWT, back to front with httpOnly Cookies, express middleware for verification. Normal Register and Login

• Documents: Rich text editor used: Quill.

  • Create:
  • Edit:
  • Add collaborators: Add collaborators via email.
  • Online indicators: Indicators for when collaborators are online.
  • Real-time editing: With the help of socket.io and quilljs-delta to break down the changes and sync every participant in the document together.
  • Persistance and document life: Documents are stored in a mongoDb collection, but not every change directly goes in the database. To reduce the database communication, the usage of redis was necessary and it helped to optimize the solution in a beautiful manner (See for your self).

Methodology

SimulQ's development process involved rigorous research and practical application, covering the following key areas:

Secure User Authentication

• JSON Web Tokens (JWT): For secure claim representation between parties.
• HTTP-Only Cookies: Enhancing security against cross-site scripting attacks.

Real-time Communication with Socket.IO

• WebSocket Protocol: Establishing a persistent two-way communication channel.
• HTTP Protocol Integration: Managing one-way communication requests efficiently.

Frontend Development with React

• React Hooks: Simplifying state management and lifecycle features in functional components.
• Axios Integration: For performing efficient HTTP requests.

High-Performance Caching with Redis

• Efficient Data Storage: Utilizing key-value data structures for rapid data retrieval and reduced database load.

Middleware Configuration with Express.js

• Extensive Middleware Support: Facilitating request handling, authentication, error handling, and more.

Backend Development with TypeScript

• Enhanced Code Quality: Introducing static typing to JavaScript, improving code reliability and maintenance.
• Mongoose Schemas: Demonstrating efficient MongoDB integration with Mongoose library.

Objectives

The project aims to enhance collaborative work environments by addressing traditional document collaboration challenges, such as asynchronous communication and high database access loads.

Challenges Addressed

SimulQ focuses on optimizing resource utilization, minimizing database access, and reducing message sizes for improved system performance and resource efficiency.

Technologies

• Backend: Express.js, Node.js
• Real-time Communication: WebSocket, Socket.IO
• Frontend: React JS, TypeScript
• Authentication: JWT, HttpOnly Cookies
• Database: MongoDB, Mongoose
• Caching: Redis
• HTTP Client: Axios

Future Scope

This project not only provides a robust system for real-time collaborative editing but also serves as a comprehensive guide for future developments in this field. The practices and methodologies used lay a solid foundation for building upon.

Keywords

Real-time Collaboration, Document Editing, Web Technologies, WebSocket, Express.js, React, TypeScript, Redis, Axios, JWT, MongoDB.