Bidirectional Streaming and Flow Control
Understand how to manage continuous data streams in both directions and implement basic flow control.
Beyond Simple Messages
So far, we've mostly thought about WebSockets as a way to send discrete messages back and forth. But what if you need to transfer a continuous stream of data?
This is where bidirectional streaming comes in. It's about maintaining a steady, ongoing flow of data simultaneously in both directions, not just isolated messages.
Why Bidirectional Streaming Matters
Imagine scenarios like:
- Live Audio/Video: Sending and receiving real-time media streams.
- Large File Transfers: Uploading or downloading big files in chunks.
- Real-time Analytics: Continuous updates for dashboards with high data volume.
For these, a constant 'river' of data is more efficient than many small, separate 'droplets'.
All lessons in this course
- Implementing Publish/Subscribe Messaging
- Request-Response over WebSockets
- Bidirectional Streaming and Flow Control
- Backpressure and Message Batching