Awesome WebSockets

A curated list of WebSockets related principles and technologies.

WebSocket is a computer communications protocol, providing full-duplex communication channels over a single TCP connection. The WebSocket protocol was standardized by the IETF as RFC 6455 in 2011, and the WebSocket API in Web IDL is being standardized by the W3C.

Contents

• Tools per Language
  • Agnostic
  • C
  • C++
  • C#
  • Erlang
  • Go
  • Java VM
    • Clojure
    • Java
    • Scala
  • Node.js
  • Perl
  • PHP
  • Python
  • Ruby
  • Protocols and APIs
• Command-Line Interface (CLI) Tools
• Real Life Stories
• Security
• Theory
  • Articles & Papers
  • Talks
  • Tutorials
  • Books
  • Sites
• License
• Contributing
• Acknowledgments

Tools per Language

Agnostic

• Websocketd - WebSockets the UNIX way - Full duplex messaging between web browsers and servers.
• Nchan - Nchan is a scalable, flexible pub/sub server for the modern web, built as a module for the Nginx web server.
• Apache-websocket - Apache WebSocket module.

C

• Libwebsockets - It's a lightweight pure C library built to use minimal CPU and memory resources, and provide fast throughput in both directions as client or server.
• Libwebsock - C library for easy WebSockets server.
• Websocket - Websocket server written in C.
• facil.io - A server/framework library for web applications, including Websockets and native pub/sub.

C++

• Websocketpp - C++ Websocket client/server library.
• QtWebSockets - The QtWebSockets module is an add-on for the Qt5 library.
• Beast - HTTP and WebSocket built on Boost.Asio in C++11.
• µWebSockets - Highly scalable WebSocket server & client library.
• Simple-WebSocket-Server - A very simple, fast, multithreaded, platform independent WebSocket (WS) and WebSocket Secure (WSS) server and client library implemented using C++11, Boost.Asio and OpenSSL.

C#

• ASP.NET SignalR - Incredibly simple real-time web for .NET.
• WebSocketListener - Lightweight and highly scalable asynchronous WebSocket server for .NET/Mono.
• websocket-rpc - WebSocket RPC library for .NET with auto JavaScript client code generation, supporting ASP.NET Core.
• NetGain - A high performance websocket server library powering Stack Overflow.
• websocket-manager - Real-Time library for ASP .NET Core

Erlang

• Sockjs-erlang - WebSocket emulation - Erlang server.
• Cowboy - Small, fast, modular HTTP server written in Erlang.
• Bullet - Simple, reliable, efficient streaming for Cowboy.
• Kraken - Distributed Pubsub Server for Realtime Apps.

Go

• Gorilla Websocket Toolkit - WebSocket implementation for Go.
• Websocket - Package Websocket implements a client and server for the WebSocket protocol as specified in RFC 6455.
• Ws - Tiny WebSocket library for Go.

Java VM

Clojure

• Sente - Realtime web comms for Clojure/Script.
• Chord - Library designed to bridge the gap between the triad of CLJ/CLJS, web-sockets and core.async.
• Luminusweb - Luminus is a Clojure micro-framework based on a set of lightweight libraries.

Java

• Project Tyrus - JSR 356: Java API for WebSocket - Reference Implementation.
• Java-WebSocket - Barebones WebSocket client and server implementation written in 100% Java.
• Atmosphere - Realtime Client Server Framework for the JVM, supporting WebSockets with Cross-Browser Fallbacks.
• Webbit - Java event based WebSocket and HTTP server.

Scala

• Play - The high velocity web framework for Java and Scala.
• Finagle-websocket - Finagle Websocket clients and servers.

Node.js

• Socket.IO - Featuring the fastest and most reliable real-time engine.
• Nodejs-websocket - Node.js module for websocket server and client.
• WebSocket-Node - WebSocket Implementation for Node.JS (Draft -08 through the final RFC 6455).
• Sockjs-node - WebSocket emulation - Node.js server.
• Ws - ws: The fastest cross platform RFC-6455 WebSocket implementation for Node.js.
• deepstream.io - Open realtime server a fast, secure and scalable realtime server for mobile, web & iot.
• websocket-as-promised - Promise-based W3C WebSocket wrapper: allows to use promises when connecting, disconnecting and messaging with WebSocket server.
• faye-websocket-node - Standards-compliant WebSocket client and server.
• ws-wrapper - Lightweight WebSocket wrapper that provides a socket.io-like event-handler API along with Promise-based requests.
• ws-server-wrapper - Companion library for ws-wrapper for the server-side.
• uws - Tiny WebSockets (access to the C++ library, µWebSockets, via Node.js)

Perl

• Net::WebSocket::Server - Straightforward Perl WebSocket server with minimal dependencies.

PHP

• Ratchet - Ratchet is a loosely coupled PHP library providing developers with tools to create real time, bi-directional applications between clients and servers over WebSockets.
• Php-websocket - Simple PHP WebSocket implementation for PHP 5.3.
• Phpws - PHP Web Socket server.
• Sandstone - Microframework to build a real time Rest API.

Python

• Websockets - Websockets is a library for developing WebSocket servers and clients in Python.
• Ws4py - WebSocket package for Python.
• Autobahn.ws - Open-source real-time framework for Web, Mobile & Internet of Things.
• Tornado - Tornado is a Python web framework and asynchronous networking library, originally developed at FriendFeed.

Ruby

• AnyCable - Polyglot replacement for Ruby WebSocket servers with Action Cable protocol.
• Em-websocket - EventMachine based WebSocket server.
• Faye-websocket-ruby - Standards-compliant WebSocket client and server.
• Iodine - WebSocket/HTTP server with integrated pub/sub and optional Redis support.
• Websocket-driver-ruby - WebSocket protocol handler with pluggable I/O.
• Websocket-ruby - Universal Ruby library to handle WebSocket protocol.
• Scorched - Light-weight web framework for Ruby.
• Firehose - Build realtime Ruby web applications. Created by the fine folks at Poll Everywhere.
• Slanger - Open Pusher implementation compatible with Pusher libraries.
• render_sync - Real-time Rails Partials.
• websocket-rails - Plug and play websocket support for ruby on rails.

Protocols and APIs

• RFC6455 - The WebSocket Protocol.
• The WebSocket API - The W3C The WebSocket API.
• Hixie76 - The WebSocket protocol draft-hixie-thewebsocketprotocol-76

Command-Line Interface (CLI) Tools

• claws - Awesome WebSocket CLient - an interactive command line client for testing websocket servers.
• wscat - WebSocket cat.
• wsta - A CLI development tool for WebSocket APIs.
• ws - websocket command line tool.
• wssh - wssh ("wish") is a command-line utility/shell for WebSocket inspired by netcat.
• wsc - A tiny command line websocket client written in Go.
• ws-cli -WebSocket Command Line Client written in Go.

Real Life Stories

• The top 10 realtime web apps
• Super sync sports
• Firepad
• JabbR
• Kaazing
• Taskade - Real-time collaborative task lists and outlines.

Security

• WebSockets - An Introduction - The problems and some security implications of websockets - Cross-site WebSockets Scripting (XSWS).
• Hacking with WebSockets - Talk on Blackhat USA 2012 Conference.
• Testing WebSockets - This article is part of the new OWASP Testing Guide v4.
• Websockets Auth - Journey into WebSockets Authentication/Authorization.
• Kaazing - HTML5 WebSocket Security is Strong.

Theory

Articles & Papers

• An introduction to Websockets - Brief History of Real-Time Web Applications.
• Introducing WebSockets: Bringing Sockets to the Web - The Problem: Low Latency Client-Server and Server-Client Connections.
• About HTML5 WebSocket - About HTML5 WebSocket.
• Node.js WebSocket - Finding the right Node.js WebSocket implementation.
• Websockets 101 - Armin Ronacher's Thoughts and Writings (creator of Flask).
• Real-time Apps - Building Real-time Apps with Websockets & Server-Sent Events.
• Real-Time Web by Paul Banks - The State of Real-Time Web in 2016.
• Are WebSockets the future? - WebSockets, caution required!
• MSDN Microsoft Blog - The Dangers of HTML5: WebSockets and Stable Standards.
• Webpush Internet-Draft - Generic Event Delivery Using HTTP Push.
• Full Stack Python - WebSockets on Python.

Talks

• Initial Steps to Use Websocket-rails - This is the very initial steps to use websocket-rails.

Tutorials

• Honeybadger.IO - Building a simple websockets server from scratch in Ruby.
• Engineyard - Getting Started with Ruby and WebSockets.
• David Walsh - WebSocket and Socket.IO.

Books

• WebSocket - Lightweight Client-Server Communications. Andrew Lombardi.
• The Definitive Guide to HTML5 WebSocket - Build Real-Time Applications with HTML5. By Vanessa Wang, Frank Salim, and Peter Moskovits. Source Code here.
• Getting Started with HTML5 WebSocket Programming - Develop and deploy your first secure and scalable real-time web application. Vangos Pterneas.
• High Performance Browser Networking - High Performance Browser Networking: WebSocket.

Sites

• WebSocket ORG - The one-stop-shop for all your websocket needs.
• WebSockets MDN - WebSockets Mozilla Developer Network (MDN).

License

Contributing

Please, read the Contribution Guidelines before submitting your suggestion.

Feel free to open an issue or create a pull request with your additions.

Thanks!

Acknowledgments

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