TCP Dictionary Server using NLP (WordNet)

Overview

This project implements a client–server dictionary application using TCP socket programming in Python. The server uses NLTK’s WordNet lexical database to fetch definitions of words requested by multiple clients concurrently.

The main focus of this project is to demonstrate:

• Client–server communication using TCP
• Multithreading on the server side
• Basic use of NLP resources (WordNet)
• Clean protocol handling and input validation

This project is suitable as an academic level networking + NLP foundation project.

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Features

• TCP-based client–server architecture
• Multithreaded server (handles multiple clients simultaneously)
• Word definition lookup using WordNet
• Graceful client disconnection using a command-based protocol
• Client-side input validation to prevent invalid requests
• Simple, readable, and modular code structure

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Technologies Used

• Python 3
• Socket Programming (TCP/IP)
• Multithreading
• NLTK (WordNet corpus)

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Project Structure

.
├── server.py        # Multithreaded TCP server
├── client.py        # TCP client for user interaction
└── README.md        # Project documentation

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How It Works

Server Side

• Listens on a TCP port (localhost:9999)
• Accepts incoming client connections
• Spawns a new thread for each connected client
• Receives a word from the client
• Fetches its definition using WordNet
• Sends the definition back to the client
• Closes the connection gracefully when the client sends __exit__

Client Side

• Connects to the server over TCP
• Takes word input from the user
• Prevents empty input from being sent
• Sends valid words to the server
• Displays the received definition
• Terminates connection cleanly on exit

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Installation & Setup

1. Clone the Repository

git clone <repository-url>
cd <repository-folder>

2. Install Required Dependencies

pip install nltk

3. Download WordNet Data (Run Once)

import nltk
nltk.download('wordnet')
nltk.download('omw-1.4')

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Running the Project

Step 1: Start the Server

python server.py

Step 2: Run the Client

python client.py

Step 3: Use the Application

Enter word (exit to quit): computer
Meaning: a machine for performing calculations automatically

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Limitations

• Uses only the most common WordNet meaning of a word
• Does not handle contextual word sense disambiguation
• TCP message handling is kept simple using delimiters
• No persistent storage or logging

These limitations are intentional to keep the project focused and understandable.

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Future Scope

• Improve word sense selection using part-of-speech tagging
• Accept full sentences instead of single words
• Rank multiple meanings instead of returning only the first one
• Add basic logging (queries, response time)
• Introduce a structured message format (e.g., JSON)

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Learning Outcomes

• Understanding of TCP socket communication
• Practical experience with multithreaded servers
• Exposure to NLP resources like WordNet
• Clear separation of client-side and server-side responsibilities
• Handling real-world networking edge cases

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Author

Ayush Mukati
MCA (Master of Computer Applications)
National Institute of Technology Patna

License

This project is intended for academic and learning purposes.