Why I Ditched Socket.IO for Raw WebSockets (And What I Learned)

Short summary

The author explains why they replaced Socket.IO with raw WebSockets, detailing the convenience features you lose (polling fallback, auto-reconnection, room broadcasting) and must rebuild yourself. While Socket.IO is brilliant for rapid prototyping, raw WebSockets offer smaller bundles, backend flexibility, transparent debugging, and full control—worth 2-3 days of implementation for production systems where understanding your architecture deeply outweighs framework convenience.

• •Socket.IO provides convenience (fallbacks, reconnection, rooms) but adds complexity and backend coupling
• •Raw WebSockets require 2-3 days to build equivalent features (exponential backoff, message routing)
• •Worth the investment for production systems where control, bundle size, and debugging clarity matter

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