In this article, we'll go over five (5) Node.js websocket libraries to check out in 2022. But first, we must understand what websockets are and how they function.
What is Websocket?
Websocket is a full-duplex communication protocol that transmits data from the client to the server and vice versa via a single TCP connection. A continuous connection between a client and a server is provided by a websocket. Websockets enable applications to have real-time capabilities.
How do websockets work?
The client/server communication channel has traditionally relied on the HTTP-based protocol, which is a one-way protocol in which a client requests a resource and the server responds with the required data. Long-polling is a limitation caused by this process.
Websockets, on the other hand, send data with the reliability of TCP. After the HTTP response is received, the TCP connection is kept alive so that it can be used to deliver messages between the client and the server.
Now that we know how websockets function, let's look at some Node.js libraries that can help you develop real-time applications faster.
Socket.Io
Socket.io is a real-time, full-duplex event-based communication. With over 54k github stars, socket.io offers auto-reconnection support, in which a disconnected client will attempt to reconnect endlessly until the server becomes available again. It also alerts both the server and the client when the other connection fails to respond. Other features include:
- Multiplexing support
- Binary support
- Room support
WS
WS is a client/server Node.js library. It has about 17k stars. It is an easy-to-use, lightning-fast, and properly tested websocket implementation that manages things using the websocket protocol. There are two optional modules (binary addons) that can be installed with the WS module simultaneously, which improve certain operations:
npm install --save-optional buffer util: provides effective operation performance, such as masking and unmasking the websocket frames' data payload.npm install --save-optional utf-8-validate: allows for a quick check to see if a message contains valid UTF-8.
SockJS
SockJS, which has 2k stars, is a socket library that provides a websocket-like object. It establishes a bidirectional, low-latency cross-domain communication channel between the browser and the server. SockJS is designed to work in all current browsers as well as environments that do not support the websocket protocol.
Colyseus
Colyseus is an open source Node.js library for creating a fast authoritative multiplayer server. It provides the ability to synchronize data structures for realtime and turn-based games, matchmaking clients into game session and ease of usage both on the server-side and client-side.
Faye Websocket
Faye Websocket is a generic WebSocket implementation derived from the Faye project that provides classes that make it simple to create WebSocket servers and clients in Node. It simplifies the handling of WebSocket connections within an existing Node application.
Faye Websocket offers a way for dealing with one-way connections that allow the server to push data to the client. Other than the standard WebSocket API, it does not provide any abstraction.
Conclusion
in this article we looked at five Node.js websocket libraries to consider in 2022 when developing real-time applications. We also discussed how webwockets provide real-time communication between the client and the server. I hope you found this information interesting!