https://github.com/ashutosh7i/learning_websockets
A quick note on webSockets and Tutorial.
https://github.com/ashutosh7i/learning_websockets
learning-resources websocket-chat websocket-client websocket-server websockets
Last synced: 4 months ago
JSON representation
A quick note on webSockets and Tutorial.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/ashutosh7i/learning_websockets
- Owner: ashutosh7i
- Created: 2023-08-30T20:34:42.000Z (almost 3 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2023-08-31T04:11:27.000Z (almost 3 years ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-07-13T07:43:55.874Z (12 months ago)
- Topics: learning-resources, websocket-chat, websocket-client, websocket-server, websockets
- Language: HTML
- Homepage:
- Size: 40 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: Readme.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Learning_WebSockets
## What are WebSockets?
When you need continuous data from a server, two approaches come to mind:
1. Frequent API calls to request data (Polling)
2. Utilizing WebSockets
A WebSocket is a communication protocol that enables seamless and continuous interaction between clients and servers. It offers various communication patterns, including:
- Client to Server (e.g., submitting a new post)
- Server to Client (e.g., notifying about likes/views)
- Server to Multiple Clients (e.g., broadcasting updates)
WebSocket connections maintain a persistent, bidirectional link for ongoing communication.
## How WebSockets Work
Unlike traditional HTTP connections, where a client sends a request and waits for a response, WebSocket connections remain open. This persistence allows continuous data exchange between clients and servers until either side decides to terminate the connection. This is akin to a publish-subscribe messaging pattern, where clients "subscribe" to updates, and servers "publish" messages to subscribers.
### Advantages
1. **Single Connection**: Only one request-response is needed to establish a connection.
2. **Stateful Connection**: WebSockets can maintain connection state, keeping track of data sent between client and server without relying on cookies or session IDs.
The WebSocket protocol serves two primary purposes:
1. Opening a handshake.
2. Facilitating data transfer.
## Getting Started with WebSockets in Node.js
To demonstrate WebSocket usage in Node.js, i've made two files: `server` and `client`.
### Client
The client-side HTML contains a textarea for input and a send button to communicate with the server. When the page loads, it establishes a WebSocket connection with the server.
### Server
The server-side JavaScript uses the ws module to create a WebSocket server. It handles incoming connections, manages messages, and responds conditionally to specific inputs.
```
// server.js
const WebSocketServer = require("ws");
const wss = new WebSocketServer.Server({ port: 8080 });
wss.on("connection", (ws) => {
// WebSocket server logic
});
```
### Usage
1. Run your WebSocket server using node main.js.
2. Open client.html in a browser to interact with the WebSocket server.
3. Input text, click "Send," and observe the interactions in the browser console and terminal.
### Conclusion
WebSockets offer a powerful solution for real-time communication between clients and servers. By maintaining a persistent connection, WebSockets enable efficient data exchange, making them ideal for applications requiring continuous updates or instant notifications.
This was a basic project for me to learn and implement WebSockets