Using the Action Cable functionality provided by Rails I have built a small messaging application. I also used the Semantic UI framework to style the application.

Action Cable integrates WebSockets feature to allow real time information to be displayed without the need for a refresh. It uses a Publish-Subscribe paradigm. This allows for the server to communicate between many clients.

The application design comes from the The Complete Ruby on Rails Developer course; however I have added a few additional features to the application. I have put my own spin on the styling of the app and ensure that it would be mobile-friendly.

The Action Cable functionality is quite powerful – it is really neat to see messages appear across multiple connections simultaneously. This obviously lends itself very well for a messaging type application.

Semantic UI has a more modern look and feel and seems to be a little easier to implement mobile friendly layouts than using the Bootstrap framework.

The application has the following features:

• New User Sign-Up
• Login and Logout
• User Editing
• Message Entry
• Real Time Message Display
• Mobile friendly layout

Check-out my Message Me App project page to launch the app and checkout the source code.