Semicolony ELI5 · comic

WebSockets.

One phone call that never hangs up, so the server can finally speak first.

  1. Us again. Same question.
    dial, talk, hang up… redial
    1

    Every plain-HTTP exchange pays the full setup cost again, and only the asker may ever start one.

  2. upgrade
    2

    The opening move is still a normal request, carrying one extra ask: keep this line after you answer.

  3. one line, both directions
    3

    From here on there is no ask-then-answer choreography; either end sends the moment it has something.

  4. It texted first. Unheard of.
    4

    News now travels when it exists, not when somebody finally thinks to ask for it.

  5. chat games live
    5

    Anything where half a second of lag reads as broken leans on this: typing dots, game state, tickers.

  6. dropped — reconnect
    6

    Open lines die quietly (trains hit tunnels, laptops nap), so real apps heartbeat and redial on their own.

One open line, either side can speak — versus redialling for every message.
Semicolony semicolony.dev/eli5/websockets/comic
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