A bi-directional communication technology that provides full-duplex communication channels over the web, enabling real-time data exchange between servers and clients. Unlike traditional HTTP requests, Web Sockets establish persistent connections, allowing for efficient bidirectional data transfer.
Notes
Web Sockets offer a way to send and receive data simultaneously. After establishing a 🔌 WebSocket connection through a single handshake, both parties can exchange data at any time without the need for new HTTP connections.
TakeAways
- 📌 Enables real-time communication between web servers and clients.
- 💡 Uses persistent connections for efficiency.
- 🔍 Unlike traditional HTTP requests, Web Sockets are bidirectional.
Process
- Client Initiation: The client initiates a WebSocket connection to the server.
- Handshake: Both parties exchange headers similar to an HTTP request/response cycle to establish the connection.
- Data Exchange: Once connected, data can be sent and received in real-time using text or binary frames.
Thoughts
- 🚀 Fast: Reduces latency by reusing TCP connections for both sending and receiving data.
- 💼 Reliable: Provides reliable, ordered, line-oriented messages between clients and servers.