Websocket
Websocket provides a communication protocol that enables bidirectional communication within the client and server over a persistent connection at the initial handshake. Let see more into details:
- enables bidirectional communication within the client and server: full-duplex communication, client/server can send message at any time.
- over a persistent connection at the initial handshake: the connection is initiated by the client through HTTP request, and the server accepts it. After the handshake, the connection is kept open until the client or server closes it. It reduces the overhead of creating a new connection for each message and lowers the latency.
Use cases
Most of the cases where real-time communication is needed, websocket can be the perfect solution to your problem. Here are some examples:
- Chats: websocket enables real-time communication between users.
- Online games: websocket facilitates real-time communication between players and servers.
- Financial applications: websocket can be used to provide real-time updates on stock prices, currency exchange rates, etc.
- Collaborative applications: websocket can be used to enable real-time editing of online documents, spreadsheets, etc.