HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
You Need WebSocket!
Simply put, you need WebSocket to build world-class web applications. WebSocket
addresses the major deficiencies that make HTTP unsuitable for real-time
communication. The asynchronous, bidirectional communication patterns enabled by
WebSocket are a return to the general flexibility afforded by transport layer protocols on
the Internet.
Think about all the great ways you can use WebSocket and build true real-time
functionality into your applications, like chat, collaborative document editing, massively
multiplayer online (MMO) games, stock trading applications, and the list goes on. We'll
take a look at specific applications later in this topic.
WebSocket and RFC 6455
WebSocket is a protocol, but there is also a WebSocket API, which enables your
applications to control the WebSocket protocol and respond to events triggered by the
server. The API is developed by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) and the protocol
by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). The WebSocket API is now supported
by modern browsers and includes methods and attributes needed to use a full duplex,
bidirectional WebSocket connection. The API enables you to perform necessary actions
like opening and closing the connection, sending and receiving messages, and listening
for events triggered by the server. Chapter 2 describes the API in more detail and gives
examples of how to use the API.
The WebSocket Protocol enables full duplex communication between a client and
a remote server over the Web, and supports transmission of binary data and text strings.
The protocol consists of an opening handshake followed by basic message framing, and is
layered over TCP. Chapter 3 describes the protocol in more detail and shows you how to
create your own WebSocket server.
The World of WebSocket
The WebSocket API and protocol have a thriving community, which is reflected by
a variety of WebSocket server options, developer communities, and myriad real-life
WebSocket applications that are being used today.
WebSocket Options
There are a variety of WebSocket server implementations available out there, such as
Apache mod_pywebsocket, Jetty, Socket.IO, and Kaazing's WebSocket Gateway.
The idea for
The Definitive Guide for HTML5 WebSocket
was born from the desire to
share our knowledge, experiences, and opinions from years of working with WebSocket
and related technologies at Kaazing. Kaazing has been building an enterprise WebSocket
gateway server and its client libraries for over five years.
