WebSocket-a protocol providing full-duplex communications channels over a single TCP connection

WebSocket is a protocol providing full-duplex communications 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.

WebSocket is designed to be implemented in web browsers and web servers, but it can be used by any client or server application. The WebSocket Protocol is an independent TCP-based protocol. Its only relationship to HTTP is that its handshake is interpreted by HTTP servers as an Upgrade request.^[1] The WebSocket protocol makes possible more interaction between a browser and a web site, facilitating live content and the creation of real-time games. This is made possible by providing a standardized way for the server to send content to the browser without being solicited by the client, and allowing for messages to be passed back and forth while keeping the connection open. In this way a two-way (bi-directional) ongoing conversation can take place between a browser and the server. A similar effect has been achieved in non-standardized ways using stop-gap technologies such asComet.

In addition, the communications are done over TCP port number 80, which is of benefit for those environments which block non-web Internet connections using a firewall. WebSocket protocol is currently supported in several browsers including Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera. WebSocket also requires web applications on the server to support it.

Unlike HTTP, WebSocket provides for full-duplex communication. Additionally, Websocket enables streams of messages on top of TCP. TCP alone deals with streams of bytes with no inherent concept of a message. Before WebSocket, port 80 full-duplex communication was attainable using Comet channels; however, Comet implementation is nontrivial, and due to the TCP handshake and HTTP header overhead, it is inefficient for small messages. WebSocket protocol aims to solve these problems without compromising security assumptions of the web.

Reference

a websocket community http://www.websocket.org/