WebSockets are fantastic both for interactive, real-time web experiences and in combination with REST APIs to update the UI without polling for changes.

In this tutorial, we’ll demonstrate how to build a basic message relay service that clients can connect to via WebSockets.

After a client registers with their user_id, they get a unique connection ID they can use to connect via WebSockets. They are then able to receive real-time messages, which are published on the service.

Clients can also communicate topics they are interested in via the WebSocket connection. For example, if they subscribe to the topics “cats” and “dogs,” they’ll only get published messages tagged with those topics. Published messages can be addressed directly to a specific user_id or broadcast to all users.

#rust #websocket #api #web-development