WebSocket, js.io and replacing Comet

The prototype of my web-based game client uses Comet for the client-server communication. Recently, I have encountered more and more articles about WebSocket. As it is a cleaner and simpler way of doing what Comet does, I decided to look into the feasibility of adopting it now.

The options

Using WebSockets is not an option at this time. They are not supported to a level which makes them a viable solution, and only bleeding edge versions of the major browsers currently have the required support.

However, there is another possibility. That is, to use a solution which emulates the WebSocket interface as a layer over Comet. I've stumbled across two candidates in my browsing, the first being Kaazing Gateway, and the second js.io. I imagined that adopting one of these, or something similar, would enable me to write cleaner, simpler code that was future proof.

Possible solutions

I can write off Kaazing Gateway immediately. As a commercial product with a large download, the cost of adopting it is immediately higher than I am willing to pay. While it may suit the needs it was designed for, for my needs, there is no reason that the code required should not be lightweight and minimal.

js.io sounded much more promising. However, as a project, it is in a state where its usage is opaque and unclear to interested parties like myself. There is no documentation and the web site refers the user to the source code. It turns out that it both does and does not provides what I am looking for, but the latter aspect was also partly based on my lack of comprehension about the full range of functionality provided by WebSockets.

Researching js.io

Ideally, I wanted a client-side script that simply wrapped the Comet functionality, and allowed it to be used through a WebSocket interface. At least until using WebSocket itself became a viable option. Despite descriptions I had read of js.io painting it as something resembling this, I was unable to find anything within the existing browsable source code which looked suitable.

However, one of the many web searches I did found an older obsoleted script. It turns out that the earlier version of js.io provides exactly what I am looking for. Well, almost.

The earlier version of js.io layers on top of other solutions which provide a required TCPSocket object, specifically Lightstreamer and Sprocket. The default implementation of TCPSocket, which js.io falls back on looking for, is the one provided by Orbited. Unfortunately, these solutions are servers and frameworks, which are too heavyweight to be suitable for my needs.

What next?

Gutting Orbited is one option, but then I am effectively forking it, and the onus is on me to keep an eye on fixes and changes its maintainers make. Probably the best choice at this stage is to stick with Comet.