Welcome to the Real-Time Notifications documentation! This guide provides essential information for developers looking to implement real-time notification systems in their applications. Whether you're building a chat app, live dashboard, or event-driven service, this section will help you get started.

Key Concepts 🛠️

Real-time notifications require low-latency communication between client and server. Common protocols include:

  • WebSocket (for bidirectional streaming)
  • MQTT (for lightweight IoT messaging)
  • Server-Sent Events (SSE) (for one-way updates)

These technologies enable instant data delivery, ensuring users receive updates as they happen.

Example Implementation 📜

Here's a basic WebSocket example in Node.js:

const WebSocket = require('ws');
const wss = new WebSocket.Server({ port: 8080 });

wss.on('connection', (ws) => {
  ws.send(JSON.stringify({ message: "Connected to real-time server!" }));
  
  ws.on('message', (message) => {
    console.log(`Received: ${message}`);
  });
});

For MQTT, you might use a library like mqtt.js to subscribe to topics:

const mqtt = require('mqtt');
const client = mqtt.connect('mqtt://broker.hivemq.com');

client.on('connect', () => {
  client.subscribe('notifications');
  client.on('message', (topic, message) => {
    console.log(`Notification received: ${message.toString()}`);
  });
});

Best Practices ✅

  1. Use compression to reduce payload size
  2. Implement reconnection logic for reliability
  3. Monitor latency metrics for performance
  4. Secure your endpoints with TLS/SSL

Related Resources 📚

Need more information? Check out our Notification Systems Overview for deeper insights.

Real Time Notifications Architecture

For visual guides on WebSocket implementation, see WebSocket_Overview. To learn about MQTT basics, visit MQTT_Basics.