Building Real-Time Applications with WebSockets

Real-time features have become essential in modern web applications. From live notifications to collaborative editing, users expect instant updates without refreshing the page.

WebSockets provide a persistent, bidirectional connection between client and server. Unlike HTTP requests, WebSocket connections stay open, allowing the server to push data to clients instantly.

When building our Put My Car 4 Sale auction platform, WebSockets were crucial for delivering instant bid updates. Users see new bids within milliseconds, creating an engaging auction experience.

Socket.io is a popular library that provides WebSocket functionality with fallbacks for older browsers. It also adds features like rooms, namespaces, and automatic reconnection.

For production applications, consider using a message broker like Redis for pub/sub. This enables horizontal scaling by allowing multiple server instances to share real-time messages.

Error handling and reconnection logic are crucial for robust real-time applications. Implement exponential backoff for reconnection attempts and provide feedback to users when the connection is lost.