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Pushpin vs Socket.IO: What are the differences?
Introduction: In web development, both Pushpin and Socket.IO are popular tools for real-time communication between clients and servers. However, there are key differences between the two that are important to consider when choosing the right technology for a project.
Transport Protocols: Pushpin uses HTTP long polling whereas Socket.IO uses WebSockets. This difference in transport protocols can impact the efficiency and speed of real-time communication between clients and servers.
Event Handling: Pushpin relies on event hooks for customizing behavior, whereas Socket.IO provides built-in events like 'connect', 'disconnect', and 'message' for handling communication. This difference can affect the ease of use and customization options in real-time applications.
Features and Libraries: Socket.IO has a larger ecosystem of plugins, libraries, and tools compared to Pushpin. This difference can influence the extensibility, compatibility, and support available for development with each technology.
Client Support: Pushpin can work with any HTTP client library, while Socket.IO requires the use of its client library on the client-side. This difference can affect the flexibility and ease of integrating real-time communication in different frameworks and environments.
Scalability: Socket.IO is known for its scalability and can handle a large number of concurrent connections efficiently. In contrast, Pushpin may have limitations in handling high traffic situations. This difference is crucial for applications that require robust performance under heavy load.
Ease of Deployment: Pushpin is easier to set up and deploy compared to Socket.IO, which requires more configuration and setup steps. This difference can impact the time and effort required to get a real-time communication system up and running.
In Summary, the choice between Pushpin and Socket.IO for real-time communication in web development depends on factors such as transport protocols, event handling, features, client support, scalability, and ease of deployment.
We (my team) are building an App where we want to have Bi-directional texting, Single Directional Picture, and audio transfer.
We are building all this using Flutter.
There will essentially be 3 apps, 2 Mobile-based (Android and iOS) and 1 Microsoft Based. We've built up most of the code already, and made a few major mistakes but fixed it(namely had no proper state management).
How things will work:
Person A has a Mobile app 1, Person A presses a button that sends a "communication request" into a Pool of requests. Person B on Desktop App chooses a "communication request" from the pool, and engages in Bi-directional texting with Person A. Person B also opens communication with Person C who is on Mobile app 2, and they engage in Bi-directional texting. Person C will be notified of communication requests through Push Notifications.
So far we've been using Socket.IO, however, I'm starting to think that's not the best.
A problem we've encountered so far is that Person A(Mobile App 1 User), is the person who sends a "communication request" into the "Communication Pool". The Mobile App 1 User, can "cancel" the communication at any point in time. When they do that, I would like for a notification to be sent to Person B, the Desktop User, For them to pick up another communication request.
I am not sure how this should be done however, should it be done in the Back-end, then how does the Front-end get notified of the change?
Any advice on which to choose?
It's so simple when you use Firebase to manage the requests just make new field to the request for example callstate with values like "requesting" "incall" "cancelled" and both A and B can update this field.
We are starting to work on a web-based platform aiming to connect artists (clients) and professional freelancers (service providers). In-app, timeline-based, real-time communication between users (& storing it), file transfers, and push notifications are essential core features. We are considering using Node.js, ExpressJS, React, MongoDB stack with Socket.IO & Apollo, or maybe using Real-Time Database and functionalities of Firebase.
I would recommend looking hard into Firebase for this project, especially if you do not have dedicated full-stack or backend members on your team.
The real time database, as you mentioned, is a great option, but I would also look into Firestore. Similar to RTDB, it adds more functions and some cool methods as well. Also, another great thing about Firebase is you have easy access to storage and dead simple auth as well.
Node.js Express MongoDB Socket.IO and Apollo are great technologies as well, and may be the better option if you do not wish to cede as much control to third parties in your application.
Overall, I say if you wish to focus more time developing your React application instead of other parts of your stack, Firebase is a great way to do that.
Hello Noam 👋,
I suggest taking a look at Ably, it has all the realtime features you need and the platform is designed to guarantee critical functionality at scale.
Here is an in depth comparison between Ably and Firebase
Hey Noam,
I would recommend you to take a look into 8base. It has features you've requested, also relation database and GraphQL API which will help you to develop rapidly.
Thanks, Ilya
Pros of Pushpin
- Open source3
Pros of Socket.IO
- Real-time219
- Node.js143
- Event-based communication141
- Open source102
- WebSockets102
- Binary streaming26
- No internet dependency21
- Large community10
- Push notification6
- Ease of access and setup5
- Test1
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Cons of Pushpin
- Worst community support1
Cons of Socket.IO
- Bad documentation12
- Githubs that complement it are mostly deprecated4
- Doesn't work on React Native3
- Small community2
- Websocket Errors2
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