Why should you care?

Socket.IO adds features; sometimes native WebSocket suffices for internal tick data.

See it live — copy this example

Paste into your MeanVerse project (Angular + Express + MongoDB), then run with ng serve / node / mongosh as noted.

// Node ws server
import { WebSocketServer } from 'ws';
const wss = new WebSocketServer({ server: httpServer, path: '/ws/fx' });

wss.on('connection', (ws, req) => {
  const sub = fxBus.subscribe(tick => {
    if (ws.readyState === ws.OPEN) ws.send(JSON.stringify(tick));
  });
  ws.on('close', () => sub.unsubscribe());
});

// Angular
const ws = new WebSocket('wss://api.meanverse.com/ws/fx');
ws.onmessage = (e) => this.latestRate.set(JSON.parse(e.data).rate);

What happened?

• ws attaches to HTTP server on path /ws/fx.
• Server pushes JSON ticks.
• Client parses message into Angular signal — no Socket.IO protocol overhead.

Practice next

1. Choose ws when no rooms/reconnect library needed.
2. build heartbeat ping/pong to detect dead connections.
3. Secure with wss:// and token query or subprotocol auth.
4. Add reconnection with exponential backoff in Angular.
5. Benchmark 1000 msg/sec ws vs long polling.

Remember

WebSocket = persistent two-way channel. Raw ws lighter than Socket.IO. Use wss and auth in production.

FX rate feed

Trading desk needs 20 updates/sec per currency pair.

Outcome: Native WebSocket minimizes latency vs REST polling.