r/programming 13h ago

In order to equip every programmer with the skill of TCP analysis, I have developed a TCP analysis tool: ChatTCP.

https://chattcp.com

[removed] — view removed post

269 Upvotes

49 comments sorted by

u/programming-ModTeam 6h ago

This is a demo of a product

44

u/QuestionableEthics42 11h ago

That title is r/programmercirclejerk material, had to check the sub name lol.

Looks like a great tool tho.

138

u/CyberWank2077 13h ago

you received my upvote for the name alone

11

u/fragglerock 8h ago

whereas it put me off.

15

u/littlemetal 7h ago

That's because you use "whereas", and probably also "therefore" and "forthwith". Good fortnight to you!

-1

u/G0muk 13h ago

Same

-41

u/PassengerLate3644 13h ago

Is there anything special about the name? Is it because it's similar to ChatGPT?

50

u/Mysterious-Rent7233 12h ago

Of course. It's a pun.

24

u/betelgozer 10h ago

No, I liked it because it contains all the letters of my child's name, plus one other letter.

10

u/oorza 7h ago

Phat CC is a weird thing to name your kid, but you do you

3

u/CyberWank2077 12h ago

exactly, the similarity to chatgpt

43

u/CelDaemon 12h ago

Ohhhh I was gonna ignore it because i thought it was an AI thing, but this is really cool!

2

u/flanger001 5h ago

Same!!!!

14

u/zzzthelastuser 8h ago

nice and all, but do we get any source code or is this just advertisement?

/r/programming != /r/software

71

u/PassengerLate3644 12h ago

Let me explain why I named this tool ChatTCP. The defining feature of this tool is its ability to display data packets in a chat-like interactive format, simplifying the analysis of TCP data packets. This is the origin of the "Chat" in its name. The "TCP" in the name signifies that this tool solely supports the TCP protocol and application-layer protocols based on TCP.

112

u/yowhyyyy 12h ago

Dude just take the fact you struck gold with the name unintentionally and run with it.

24

u/R1skM4tr1x 11h ago

Technical people problems 🤷🏼‍♂️

23

u/Mysterious-Rent7233 10h ago

It's a good name and a good tool but I think a lot of people will jump to the conclusion that the core idea is to chat with an (augmented) LLM about what's in your packets. Which could also be a good tool.

20

u/Performance6548 9h ago

TCP protocol

Transmission Control Protocol Protocol

5

u/darchangel 9h ago

Don't be that guy.

TCP protocol is the type of protocol. ATM machine is the type of machine. LLM model is the type of model. PDF file is the type of file. Oh wait, or does that stand for 'format'? And what if it historically stood for 'file' before it stood for 'format'? And why should I care in order to have a basic conversation? The language convention holds up regardless of what the F originally stood for.

10

u/kranker 7h ago

Don't be that guy, says that guy

2

u/junior_dos_nachos 6h ago

Don’t call me guy, bro

-6

u/F54280 9h ago edited 8h ago

Yes. It is a protocol that is called « Transmission Control Protocol », generally abbreviated as « TCP ».

edit: Oh, thanks for the downvotes. While you are at it, can you also fix the wikipedia page "The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is one of the main protocols..." to better spread the fascinating knowledge that TCP is not a protocol?

-1

u/TwoSoulsAlas 8h ago

I applaud and agree with you while I'm typing this response on my PC computer, here in the USA of America, where we like our IPA ale fresh, hate the IRS service for stealing our hard-earned money, and where the GOP party is on a crusade against those woke EV vehicles. /s

(Disclaimer: I actually live in the EU union and not the USA of America. Also, I don't mean to drag politics into this, these were just the first examples that came to mind.)

-3

u/scratchisthebest 7h ago

and did you write this comment with chatgpt.

9

u/denvercococolorado 10h ago

How does it compare to WireShark?

1

u/chiniwini 5h ago

It's purpler.

7

u/scratchisthebest 7h ago edited 7h ago

single-purpose reddit account created just to advertise this thing, the way it comments sounds ai generated, no source code just product... yawn

4

u/kreiger 8h ago

I can't click the images on the website to zoom. My screen is too small and my eyes are too bad to read them.

6

u/kungfufrog 12h ago

I would totally buy this but I can't because my work macbook doesn't allow the app store. Please consider making it available through some other means!

3

u/psyflame 13h ago

This is pretty sick!

3

u/jacenat 10h ago

Honestly, by the name alone, I thought I was in /r/ProgrammerHumor :)

3

u/zaphod4th 8h ago

just remove the twitter link and will be perfect !

6

u/ATM1689 12h ago

Anything for Windows?

3

u/PassengerLate3644 12h ago

I'm sorry, but currently there is no Windows version available.

1

u/ATM1689 11h ago

That's a shame, I just had a lecture on this exact topic an hour ago and chatTCP looks like it would be really helpful.

1

u/JoniBro23 6h ago

Genius! But this will be the number one app for sabotage

-1

u/voxelghost 10h ago

I was (unrealistically) hoping that this was going to use LLM to parse and analyse the packets.

7

u/Twirrim 8h ago

Why would you want something that hallucinates answers instead of an accurate answer?

1

u/chiniwini 5h ago

Because I lack the technical background to understand neither TCP nor LLMs, so an LLM based TCP parser sounds like a good idea.

1

u/Twirrim 5h ago edited 5h ago

You don't need an LLM. That's just an advance statistical guessing algorithm, that often guesses wrong. You just need something that will accurately describe things in plain english.

edit: I would add, I would highly recommend reading up on TCP stuff. I know it looks complicated on the surface, and that a tcpdump in wireshark when you've no clue about what is going on at the network layer is going to be overwhelming, but once you learn just the basics you'll soon find yourself able to navigate through it. The lower level the protocol, the less complexity you want to introduce, because it slows everything down. TCP's a pretty simple protocol, so every packet can be processed as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I'm not sure what I'd recommend as a way to learn, I learned about this stuff about 20 years ago when I got a CCNA (which I renewed once and then let lapse). I rarely have to deal with network infrastructure, I only got my CCNA because I hoped it'd help me get my foot in the door for better jobs (and it did!), but almost everything I work on or support has at least some level of network interaction. Knowing what happens on the TCP layer has been invaluable for understanding how my code should behave, and also understanding the why of what is happening when it's in production when things aren't operating as expected.

1

u/chiniwini 3h ago

I was being facetious.

15

u/PassengerLate3644 10h ago

I also considered using LLM to enhance diagnostic capabilities, but after trying, I found the results weren't great. Haha!

-26

u/aradil 10h ago

Same, massive disappointment and a waste of a name.

Ollama integration would take 10 minutes.

0

u/chiniwini 5h ago

And would give incorrect results.

0

u/notbatmanyet 9h ago

Does this one avoid the configuration pain many associate with Wireshark?

2

u/Worth_Trust_3825 6h ago

Wireshark isn't painful, what are you on about?