>Why socket.io instead of just plain websockets? Socket.io adds a lot of complexity in the client and the server. What commensurate benefit does it provide? Th

>Why socket.io instead of just plain websockets? Socket.io adds a lot of complexity in the client and the server. What commensurate benefit does it provide? The real reasoning is browser support. Socket.io supports automatic fallback to AJAX long polling if the client doesn't support websockets. It also standardizes the interface across clients. It's essentially to websockets what jQuery is to the DOM.