I'm a complete beginner looking to dive into coding, and I'm particularly interested in creating a voice chat application similar to Discord for me and my friends in Turkey. I want to start with something that's not too complicated but still offers a good challenge. Ideally, I'd like to create a web-based app first and then transition to a standalone software. What programming languages and frameworks should I consider for this project?
3 Answers
Discord is built using a framework called Electron, which lets you create standalone apps using web technologies. You'll need to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (they actually use TypeScript), which are essential for web development. This will help you with the front end.
To get the speed you need for handling voice chat, the backend is just as important. Discord uses multiple languages like Rust, Go, and even Python for different parts of the system. So while you're starting with HTML/CSS/JS for the front end, keep the backend options in mind as you progress!
You might want to look into WebRTC, which is great for real-time communication like voice chats. It’s pretty beginner-friendly and can help you get started with building your app. Here’s a link to get you familiar with it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebRTC
I wasn’t aware of WebRTC before! I thought it all had to do with web sockets or TCP sockets, but this sounds really interesting.
True, but remember that Discord also handles a lot of its backend services using languages like Elixir and Rust, along with C++. It's not just about the frontend!