WebSockets

What are WebSockets?

WebSocket protocol allows for simultaneous two-way communication between the client and the server. Applications such as chatting apps and multiplayer games that rely on real-time connection with the server use WebSockets for their communication.

GetX’s internal networking library, GetConnect, allows us to establish long-lived connections with the server over WebSockets. This lesson will teach us how to manage a socket connection with the server and listen to real-time updates.

Establishing connection

We manage a WebSocket connection in GetConnect using the GetSocket class. With GetSocket, we get the methods to establish a connection, close it, and listen to the messages that pass to and from the client and server. To establish a connection, we follow three simple steps:

1. Create an instance of GetConnect. We use it to create a socket connection.

2. Create an instance of GetSocket using GetConnect's socket method. Provide it the URL to connect to.

3. Finally, connect to the created socket using the connect method. It’s an asynchronous event, so make sure to add await before the method call.

Listeners

Now that the connection is established, we can listen to the various events that take place during the life cycle of the connection. GetSocket provides us a listener method corresponding to each life cycle event. Let’s walk through all the listener methods one by one:

1. The onOpen method: Gets triggered as soon as the connection is established. In the below example, we mark the user online when the connection opens.

2. The onMessage method: Called every time there’s a new message passed in the connection. We pass a new message with GetSocket's send method, ...