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WebSocket Protocol Deep Dive

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WebSocket: from HTTP upgrade to full-duplex

WebSocket starts as an HTTP/1.1 request and upgrades the connection to a persistent, full-duplex channel. After upgrade, both sides can send frames at any time without the request-response overhead of HTTP.

The TCP connection stays open. No headers on each message — just a small binary frame header.

Packets in motion — click to inspect:

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