CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ruby-on-railsreactjswebsocketreal-time
masfmqowkf
masfmqowkf

Reputation: 121

Adding an HTTP event (from Rails server) listener to React.js client

My app is running on Rails server with React client. I can send request from React to Rails with axios, but I don't know how to send request from Rails to React.

When one user follows the other user, I want to show it to the other one in real-time.

Is socket.io something that I should be using? I welcome any kind of recommendations.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 453

Answers (1)

Robert Nubel
Robert Nubel

Reputation: 7522

You have two basic options when it comes to pushing messages from server-to-client on the web:

  1. HTTP polling: the client simply asks the server every so often -- say, every 5 seconds) if there are any new messages (new followers, in your case). This is easy and effective, but involves a lot of vapid HTTP requests. A variant of this is "long polling", in which the server holds the connection open for a while, but I wouldn't recommend that.
  2. Websockets: this is a protocol in which the browser connects to your backend over a socket-like connection, allowing for long-lasting bidirectional communication. On Rails, Action Cable provides a fairly easy way to hook up websockets and get the interactions you're looking for. Socket.io is another option which has no connection to Rails. On the other hand, a hosted option like pusher would let you get started without needing any new infrastructure (in order to track who's listening across multiple servers, ActionCable needs Redis or another distributed database).

Upvotes: 2

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