Socket.IO is a library that enables real-time, bidirectional and event-based communication between the browser and the server. It works on every platform, browser or device, focusing equally on reliability and speed. Socket.IO is built on top of the WebSockets API (Client side) and Node.js. It is one of the most depended upon library on npm (Node Package Manager).

Socket.IO primarily uses the WebSocket protocol with polling as a fallback option, while providing the same interface. Although it can be used as simply a wrapper for WebSocket, it provides many more features, including broadcasting to multiple sockets, storing data associated with each client, and asynchronous I/O.

It can be installed with the npm tool.

Socket.IO provides the ability to implement real-time analytics, binary streaming, instant messaging, and document collaboration. Notable users include Microsoft Office, Yammer, and Zendesk.

Socket.IO handles the connection transparently. It will automatically upgrade to WebSocket if possible. This requires the programmer to only have Socket.IO knowledge.

Socket.IO is not a WebSocket library with fallback options to other realtime protocols. It is a custom realtime transport protocol implementation on top of other realtime protocols. A Socket.IO implementing server cannot connect to a non-Socket.IO WebSocket client. A Socket.IO implementing client cannot talk to a non-Socket.IO WebSocket or Long Polling Comet server. Socket.IO requires using the Socket.IO libraries on both client and server side.

As of version 2.0, Socket.IO makes use of μWebSockets as the underlying WebSocket library.

Content

• Socket.IO - Overview

• Socket.IO - Environment

• Socket.IO - Hello World

• Socket.IO - Event Handling

• Socket.IO - Broadcasting

• Socket.IO - Namespaces

• Socket.IO - Rooms

• Socket.IO - Error Handling

• Socket.IO - Logging and Debugging

• Socket.IO - Internals

• Socket.IO - Chat Application

• Socket.IO - Emit Cheatsheet

• Socket.IO - Using multiple nodes