reconnecting-websocket

What is reconnecting-websocket?

The 'reconnecting-websocket' npm package provides a WebSocket client that automatically reconnects if the connection is lost. It is designed to be a drop-in replacement for the standard WebSocket, adding the ability to handle disconnections and reconnections seamlessly.

What are reconnecting-websocket's main functionalities?

Automatic Reconnection

This feature allows the WebSocket to automatically reconnect if the connection is lost. The code sample demonstrates how to create a new ReconnectingWebSocket instance and handle open, close, and message events.

const ReconnectingWebSocket = require('reconnecting-websocket');
const rws = new ReconnectingWebSocket('ws://example.com');
rws.addEventListener('open', () => {
  console.log('Connected');
});
rws.addEventListener('close', () => {
  console.log('Disconnected');
});
rws.addEventListener('message', (event) => {
  console.log('Message from server:', event.data);
});

Custom Reconnection Logic

This feature allows you to customize the reconnection logic by setting options such as connection timeout, maximum retries, and reconnection delays. The code sample demonstrates how to create a ReconnectingWebSocket instance with custom options.

const ReconnectingWebSocket = require('reconnecting-websocket');
const options = {
  connectionTimeout: 1000,
  maxRetries: 10,
  maxReconnectionDelay: 10000,
  minReconnectionDelay: 1000
};
const rws = new ReconnectingWebSocket('ws://example.com', [], options);
rws.addEventListener('open', () => {
  console.log('Connected');
});
rws.addEventListener('close', () => {
  console.log('Disconnected');
});
rws.addEventListener('message', (event) => {
  console.log('Message from server:', event.data);
});

Event Handling

This feature allows you to handle various WebSocket events such as open, close, message, and error. The code sample demonstrates how to add event listeners for these events.

const ReconnectingWebSocket = require('reconnecting-websocket');
const rws = new ReconnectingWebSocket('ws://example.com');
rws.addEventListener('open', () => {
  console.log('Connected');
});
rws.addEventListener('close', () => {
  console.log('Disconnected');
});
rws.addEventListener('message', (event) => {
  console.log('Message from server:', event.data);
});
rws.addEventListener('error', (error) => {
  console.error('WebSocket error:', error);
});

Other packages similar to reconnecting-websocket

ws

The 'ws' package is a simple to use, blazing fast, and thoroughly tested WebSocket client and server for Node.js. Unlike 'reconnecting-websocket', it does not provide automatic reconnection out of the box, but it offers more control and flexibility for WebSocket communication.

socket.io-client

The 'socket.io-client' package is a client library for Socket.IO, which enables real-time, bidirectional, and event-based communication. It includes automatic reconnection and other advanced features like multiplexing and broadcasting. It is more feature-rich compared to 'reconnecting-websocket' but also more complex.

websocket

The 'websocket' package provides a WebSocket client and server library for Node.js. It supports automatic reconnection through additional configuration and offers a robust set of features for WebSocket communication. It is more comprehensive compared to 'reconnecting-websocket'.

README

Reconnecting WebSocket

Work in progress