Websockets are cool!

I won't go into a lot of detail today, but I tried out serving up some PHP with websockets enabled. Websockets are way cool... I won't go to the end of saying, "OMG!! This will revolutionize the Internetz!!11!!" But I must say that this is will be a big game changer in terms of Internet applications. Combinded with HTML5, web sockets will be the new preferred method for messaging between server and client as opposed to AJAX and similar push technologies.


The best part of Web Sockets is the simple approach they take to passing messages between client and server combined with just how powerful they truly are. If you have ever used callback handlers then web sockets will be a very easy topic for you. You simply register what the web page should be listening for. You web page emits messages to the server and the server emits messages back. On each message received the web page checks what has been registered and the action associated with it.


This has the upshoot of being a write the handler and forget it approach which usually is a disservice to an API, but found that it serves JavaScript quite well.


The only problem will be getting frameworks to start jumping ship from AJAX to Websockets. XML can still be passed using Websockets and most likely that's the way most people will go, but any kind of data can be sent and that includes binary data which tends to be faster and more compact than XML. Most AJAX platforms already present their API as a series of callbacks for people to use in their web pages so Webdevs are already in the right thinking for Websockets.


Another barrier to websockets is the lack of servers that have support for it. The PHP version is still in beta and Apache feels that third parties will fill in the void for them. Jetty (Java server) and a few third party SilverLight stacks provide production grade Websockets at the current moment. The final barrier is the fact that the Websocket standard hasn't been approved as final by IETF, in fact it's still draft. So everything in the standard could change in a moments notice. That alone could keep vendors from adding it to their server. Browser support is Chrome, Opera, and Firefox 4. Basically all the next gen browsers, except our favorite browser to hate IE (including the latest IE 9 build).


All that said Websockets provide a new method of communicating with clients that out matches all currently existing technology and at some point full duplex communications is going to come to all browser and servers, be it websockets or something else down the road. Most likely Websockets will be the winner the biggest question will be in what shape as the standard could change as we all wait for it to become a final standard.