What Is a WebSocket?
A WebSocket is a protocol that enables two-way communication between a client and server over the web. It provides full duplex communication, meaning both parties can send data at the same time without having to wait for an acknowledgement from the other side. The WebSocket protocol was designed as an alternative to HTTP, which only allows one-way communication from the client to the server. With WebSockets, clients can initiate requests and receive responses in real time without needing to constantly poll or refresh their connection with the server. This makes it ideal for applications such as chat rooms, online gaming, stock market updates and more.
The WebSocket protocol uses TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) as its transport layer instead of HTTP’s request/response model. This means that once a connection has been established between a client and server using this protocol, they are able to communicate freely until either party decides to close it down. Additionally, since all messages sent through this channel are encrypted by default using TLS (Transport Layer Security), any data exchanged remains secure throughout its journey across networks. All modern browsers support this technology so developers don’t need additional libraries or plugins when creating applications that use it – making development much easier than before!