A simple unencrypted music streaming service made in Java for a university assignment.
Any user can see what their friends are listening to and can join the 'party' to listen to the same song in sync.
During a listening party, an ephemeral chat is available for communication between the members of the party. The chat is erased at the end of the party.
The project uses the following technologies:
- JavaFX for client GUI
- HTTP and LCT (custom protocol) for general communication
- HTTP live-streaming (HLS) for audio streaming
- SQLite for storing server data (not the actual audio files)
The client uses JavaFX for its GUI, made of a login screen, a search tab, a library tab, a listening party tab, a playing-now tab and a settings tab. From the search tab, the user can select tracks/albums/artists/playlists and see a special page for each.
The user login data is cached, with the option to log out to use a different account.
The search tab is dynamically constructed and allows searching artists, tracks, albums and playlists.
The library tab allows the user to see followed artists, playlists and albums and to manage their own playlists.
The settings tab will allow managing user settings and server settings (server URL and port).
An active client connects via the LCP protocol, which allows for realtime updates, listening parties and live chat. Information is fetched via the HTTP protocol, using JSON for potential message bodies. The actual streaming protocol is HLS and is already implemented by JavaFX's Media class.
The server is made of two parts: the HTTP Server and the LCP server.
The HTTP server acts as a medium between the client and the database and has direct access to the audio and image files required by the client application. A config file should specify the database and the file folder locations.
The LCP server keeps track of active users, managing listening parties and live chats.
The database stores information about music, artists and users, as well as references to audio and image files present on the server.
It's SQLite database, since it's for a small university project.