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---
banner_title: "Flash - Websockets"
banner_description: "Learn how to create and manage server-side Websockets in Flash."
---
# 🌐 Websockets
In this section, we illustrate how to create and manage Websockets in Flash, which are used to establish a bidirectional communication channel between the client and the server.
## Understanding Websockets
Websockets are a communication protocol that provides full-duplex communication channels over a single TCP connection.
Unlike HTTP, which is a request-response protocol, Websockets allow for real-time, low-latency communication between the client and the server.
Imagine a scenario where you need to send real-time updates to the client, such as a chat application or a live feed: if you were to use HTTP,
you would need to poll the server at regular intervals to check for updates, which is inefficient and resource-intensive.
## Creating a Websocket
To create a Websocket in Flash, you need to extend the `WebsocketHandler` class and override the `onOpen`, `onMessage`, `onClose`, and `onError` methods.
These methods are called when the Websocket connection is opened, a message is received, the connection is closed, and an error occurs, respectively,
and they provide you with an instance of the `WebSocketSession` object to be able to interact with it.
```java
public class MyWebsocketHandler extends WebsocketHandler {
@Override
public void onOpen(WebSocketSession session) {
System.out.println("WebSocket connection opened");
}
@Override
public void onClose(WebSocketSession session, int statusCode, String reason) {
System.out.println("WebSocket connection closed");
}
@Override
public void onMessage(WebSocketSession session, String message) {
System.out.println("Received message: " + message);
//optionally send a reponse back to the client
session.sendMessage("I received your message!");
}
@Override
public void onError(WebSocketSession session, Throwable error) {
System.out.println("WebSocket error: " + error.getMessage());
}
}
```
To register your Websocket handler with the server, you can use the `server.ws()` method:
```java
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
FlashServer server = new FlashServer(8080);
server.ws("/ws")
.register(new MyWebsocketHandler());
server.start();
}
}
```
## Interacting with Websockets sessions
The `WebSocketSession` object provides methods to interact with the Websocket session, such as sending messages, closing the connection, and getting the remote address and session ID.
| Method | Params | Description |
|--------------------|------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `getChannel()` | `none` | Returns an instance of `AsynchronousSocketChannel` useful for retrieving info about the client . |
| `getRequestInfo()` | `none` | Returns an instance of `RequestInfo` containing all sorts of information about the request (headers, method, path etc.) . |
| `getPath()` | `none` | Returns the path to the websocket endpoint as a `String`. |
| `getId()` | `none` | Returns the id of the websocket session as a `String`, useful if you want to keep track of the connected clients in a custom manager. |
| `getBuffer()` | `none` | Returns the ByteBuffer for that session. |
| `sendMessage()` | `String message` | Sends the `message` to the client as a `String`. it's up to the developer to stringify and de-stringify any data you want to send back and forth |
| `close()` | `none` | Closes the websocket session. |
::: warning NOTE
`WebsocketHandler` includes a `setId(String id)` method for overriding the default session ID. Unless you have a specific reason to change it, it's best to leave it as is.
Similarly, the `setBuffer(ByteBuffer buffer)` method allows you to override the default buffer. If you're unsure about this, it's recommended to keep the default setting.
:::