WebSockets are capable of bi-directional, full-duplex communication over a persistent TCP connection They provide many benefits compared to the alternatives (for example, long-polling or Comet), such as lower overhead, persistent connections, and low latency. In short, it is the most technically challenging HTML5 feature to implement, but for truly interactive websites, it's a technology worth learning. 'Getting Started with HTML5 WebSocket Programming' gives you the true power of bi-directional communication, implemented by using the brand new HTML5 WebSocket API.