Imagine having to restart WhatsApp whenever you anticipate a new message, or needing to reload the page every time you expect an update on the big game. That would be a terrible user experience! Today, users expect the UI to automatically update the moment information becomes available from the backend, so, of course, we must enable them in our applications. There are a handful of technologies, techniques, and services you can use to implement live updates in React.

Authenticating WebSocket connections from the browser is a lot trickier than it should be. Cookie authentication isn’t suitable for every app, and the WebSocket browser API makes it impossible to set an Authorization header with a token. It’s actually all a bit of a mess! That is the last thing you want to hear when it comes to security, so I’ve done the research to present this tidy list of methods to send credentials from the browser.

NodeJS is a JavaScript-based backend framework for web applications. It enables fast, scalable, and efficient development with high concurrency and data streams. Choosing the right database for NodeJS applications is a challenge for developers. A database should store and manage the data, handle the volume and velocity of data, provide the features and functionality you need, and be compatible, easy, secure, and reliable with NodeJS.

One of the most fun parts of playing games with other people is talking to your opponent: "Have a good game!" "Hmm... interesting move..." "Your children's CHILDREN will rue this day!" Online games are no exception: they're a lot more fun if you can say hello to your opponent, or even debate some strategy.

When building web applications you’ll often be using services on the client that require authentication. A common way client-side SDKs like Ably authenticate themselves is by using server-side API endpoints that generate and return access tokens. Using access tokens allows you to keep your service’s secrets on the server and instead issue time-limited and scope-limited tokens to a client. Some services even let you create revocable tokens for added security.

Realtime data is rapidly becoming a standard in many consumer applications. From responsive chat applications to low latency financial applications, nobody wants to refresh their browser for new data. With lots of data bouncing around Kafka behind a firewall, it begs the question of how you can serve this information to your users without sacrificing on latency. Ably provides a seamless way to serve this data to your end users devices, globally, through a direct integration with Confluent Cloud.

Websites and apps are slowly starting to integrate more collaborative features as a means of increasing interactivity and the functionality of various use-cases. Be it a collaborative document or a chat room, one common feature is to show who else is in the space with you. Typically this’ll be done with an Avatar Stack, a collection of icons, each representing a client connected to the space.

NodeJS is a JavaScript runtime environment for running JavaScript applications outside the browser environment. It’s asynchronous and event-driven, meaning it doesn't block the event loop - making NodeJS highly suitable for the development of server-side web applications. With around 50,000 open source packages available through npm (Node Package Manager), NodeJS facilitates the seamless backend extension. The GitHub repository has 99k stars and 27.5k forks demonstrating an active community.

We are excited to announce that the Ably Spaces SDK now includes support for React Hooks. This means that developers can integrate collaborative features into their React-based applications in an efficient and idiomatic way. To help you quickly get started we have created a set of React-based starter kits for the four key collaborative features supported within the Spaces SDK - jump to these now!

Component libraries are essential tools for efficient React development. They provide a collection of pre-built UI components that can be reused across projects, saving developers time and effort. In this article, we'll explore some of the best React component libraries that can boost your productivity and enhance your user interface. Whether you need a simple button, a complex dashboard, or anything in between, you will find a suitable component library for your React project.

SaaS APIs typically require some kind of authentication to allow access. While there are many ways that APIs can implement authentication, one popular choice is using secret keys as the scheme. Exposing secret keys directly to a client application however can create security risks, so how can client applications based on libraries like React securely access SaaS services? Many APIs, including Ably, offer an additional client-oriented token authentication system.