Introducing real-time web applications

In this chapter, we're going to see how we can use the tools we've covered so far to build real-time applications for the Web. However, before diving into it, one of the first questions you may want answered is, "what exactly is a real-time web application?"

A real-time web application can be defined as any kind of web-facing software that allows clients (usually users) to receive information as soon as it gets published. In other words, it's a software application that functions within a timeframe that the user senses as immediate or current. In these types of software, latency must be extremely low, usually in the range of milliseconds.

Examples of real-time web apps

You may be wondering what a real-time web app looks like. Well, chances are that you use one of them every day! Gmail is an example of a real-time web app; we've all noticed e-mails and notifications popping up on our browser in real time and an asynchronous manner without the need of refreshing...