Overview
Ajax makes client-to-server communication a cinch. Socket.IO makes persistent two-way connections simple. What browser APIs underlie these libraries? What other communication mechanisms are available and how can they help you build incredible client-side experiences?
Dann Toliver will look at the XHR and WebSocket APIs to see how easy it is to build a working example using those APIs directly in modern browsers. (He’ll also show how gnarly it is in antiquated browsers, which motivates our use of libraries.) Then he’ll examine other communication APIs like SSE and WebRTC to see what they can offer us.
Along the way Dann will consider an application building style that treats all incoming messages the same; whether they originate from local events, other windows, peripherals, the server or even other clients. He’ll also look at some of the advantages that this message passing architecture offers over systems that more tightly couple communication channels to effects.
