How WebSockets have changed the internet since 2010
Once upon a time, back when Canada was hosting the winter Olympics, Instagram hadn’t launched, and LeBron James was still playing for the Cavs (for the first time), websites were only allowed to request information from servers. This ended up making the refresh button your best friend, as many updates of information required a full page load to be received. But then one day some kind souls from the IETF took over the specification of WebSockets and paved the way for servers to send information to websites without being prompted to do so. This allowed for a wealth of features.
Fake broadcasting updates
“Fake” since a broadcast is defined by users receiving a piece of information at the exact same time (within 300ms for television). WebSockets however are still based on point-to-point connections, which means the information is sent to one client at a time. Applications with hundreds of thousands of users can have a delay between when the first and last clients receive the information. This is still useful however, as you can push information to the users as soon as it becomes available on the server.
Web chat systems
Few things have a more inconsistent frequency of updates than a chat system. This makes it highly inefficient to constantly poll the server for updates. Thanks to WebSockets, it became remarkably easy to forward an incoming message as soon as it was received. Notice that Facebook Messenger was initially released in August of 2011, after browser support for WebSockets was well on its way.
Online day trading
WebSockets are ideal when continuous updates and realtime information are needed. Popular online day trading application TradeView was founded in 2011, and was followed by countless other FinTech applications. Part of the reason so many people are currently day trading has to do with how accessible it has become, and WebSockets have undoubtedly played their part.
Queue Management Systems
Queues are yet another example of something that is updated frequently, and having the most up-to-date information is important. If a client leaves a queue, the administrator needs to know, and if the queue advances, the clients need to be made aware. Queue managements systems have been around for a long time, but they are increasingly being used on the web.
Live Sports Results
Previously the only way to obtain updated information on sports results was through the radio, television, or RSS feeds. Sports fans can now stay updated on results and cheer on the go, thanks to WebSockets.
The web has changed in many weird and wonderful ways over the last decade, but we probably haven’t seen the last of the innovation surrounding WebSockets. Can you think of any other important use cases for real-time information? And what’s next?
WebRTC
The next communication protocol innovation that promises to have a similar impact to WebSockets is called WebRTC. It enables Peer-to-Peer connections through websites and it’s already being used by some of your favourite torrent clients. It has a lot of potential for IoT devices and reliable team communication. Stay tuned and subscribe for more updates on the matter.
