URL Shortener

This project is a URL shortener service written in Go. It allows users to shorten URLs and retrieve the original URLs using the shortened keys.

Features

• Shorten URLs and generate unique keys.
• Retrieve original URLs using the shortened keys.
• Save and load URLs from a JSON file.
• Optionally enable an RPC server for remote procedure calls. (Yet to work on this)

Requirements

• Go 1.16 or later

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/virgoaugustine/url-shortener.git
   cd url-shortener

2. Build the project:

   go build

Usage

1. Run the server:

   ./url-shortener -port=4000 -file=urls.json -rpc=false

2. Add a URL:

   • Open a browser and go to http://localhost:4000/add
   • Enter the URL you want to shorten and submit the form.

3. Redirect to the original URL:

   • Use the shortened URL key in the browser, e.g., http://localhost:4000/u0hleB

Command-Line Flags

• -port: Port to run the server (default: 4000)
• -file: File to store the saved URLs (default: urls.json)
• -rpc: Enable RPC server (default: false)

Project Structure

• main.go: Entry point of the application.
• store.go: Contains the URLStore struct and methods for managing URLs.
• key.go: Contains the method for generating unique keys.