Under the original HTTP protocol, a client, such as a Web browser, must open a connection to a server, make a request, wait for a response, and then close the connection. If the client needs more data, it must open a new connection. It’s like hanging up the phone and redialing after every sentence of a conversation. And if the server has new info for the client, it must wait until the client requests it rather than sending it over instantly.
The nearly-complete HTML5 standard for current and future Web software includes just such a solution, a new protocol called WebSockets. This protocol allows a Web client to create a connection, keep it open as long as it wants, and both send and receive data continuously.
The appeal of WebSocket tech is that “it is agnostic to the specific type of [Web] browser—IE, Firefox, Chrome. Developers don’t have to write a specific extension for each browser,” which they often do for workaround solutions. (Currently, Internet Explorer requires an add-on to handle WebSockets.) Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and some other browsers have support built-in.
Reducing kilobytes of data to 2 bytes […] and reducing latency from 150 milliseconds to 50 milliseconds is far more than marginal. In fact, these two factors alone are enough to make WebSockets seriously interesting to Google.”
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Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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