An Introduction to Web-based Real-Time Communication
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Now the web is undergoing yet another transformation that enables individual web
browsers to stream data directly to each other without the need for sending it via
intermediary servers. This new form of peer-to-peer communication is built upon
a new set of APIs that is being standardized by the Web Real-Time Communications
Working Group available at http://www.w3.org/2011/04/webrtc/ of the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and a set of protocols standardized by Real-Time
Communication in WEB-browsers Working Group available at http://tools.ietf.
org/wg/rtcweb/
of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
Just as the introduction of the XHR API led to the Web 2.0 revolution, the
introduction of the new WebRTC standards is creating a new revolution too.
It's time to say hello to the real-time web!
Uses for WebRTC
The real-time web allows you to set up dynamic connections to other web browsers
and web-enabled devices quickly and easily. This opens the door to a whole new
range of peer-to-peer communication, including text-based chat, le sharing, screen
sharing, gaming, sensor data feeds, audio calls, video chat, and more. You can now
see that the implications of WebRTC are very broad. Direct and secure peer-to-
peer communication between browsers will have a big impact on the modern web,
reshaping the way we use the physical networks that make up the Internet.
Direct peer-to-peer connections often provide lower latency, making gaming,
video streaming, sensor data feeds, and so on, appear faster and more interactive
or real-time, hence the use of this term.
Secure peer-to-peer connections allow you to exchange information privately
without it being logged or managed by intermediary servers. This reduces the
need for some large service providers while creating opportunities for people to
create new types of services and applications. It introduces improved privacy for
some individuals while it may also create new complexities for regulators and law
enforcement organizations.
And the efcient peer-to-peer exchange of binary data streams removes the need to
serialize, re-encode, or convert this data at each step in the process. This leads to a
much more efcient use of network and application resources, as well as creating a
less error prone and more robust data exchange pipeline.
This is just a brief overview of how you can use WebRTC, and by the end of this
book, you will have all the information you need to start turning your own new
ideas into practical applications.
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