How can I communicate over TCP sockets from JavaScript?

Question

I'm thinking about how limiting it is for AJAX apps to have to poll for updates, when what would be ideal is for javascript to be able to set up a real two way connection to the server. I'm wondering if there is some method of integrating javascript with a browser plugin that can make a tcp connection so that I could pass data into and out of the browser plugin.

Really cool idea, +1 for the thinking – seanb Nov 21 '08 at 01:52 — seanb, Nov 21 '08 at 01:52

score 16 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 09 '11 at 02:12

16

WebSockets is designed to solve this problem.

answered Jul 09 '11 at 02:12

jnnnnn

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score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 21 '08 at 01:42

11

Here is an implementation with a similar approach:

socketjs

It uses a Java Applet and bridges its API to JavaScript, interesting...

And here another one:

jSocket

This one is a wrapper of the Actionscript 3 Socket API, bridged to JavaScript...

answered Nov 21 '08 at 01:42

Christian C. Salvadó

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score 9 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 28 '11 at 21:58

9

You can use node.js framework's socket.io package which can can be installed via npm (A node package manager).

More detailed usage.

answered Jul 28 '11 at 21:58

Vishal

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I highly recommend Socket.io – Cody Feb 14 '13 at 02:49

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 21 '08 at 02:19

jSocket and Stream are two options that utilize Flash's built-in XML sockets, though neither appears to be production-ready. I'd lean towards using a Flash-based solution rather than Java, as browser penetration is higher and generally offers a better user experience (load times & stability).

How can I communicate over TCP sockets from JavaScript?

4 Answers4

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