pythonwebsocket

Which class accurately represents a WebSocket connection?

I have come across multiple ways to describe a websocket connection object while using the websockets library in python but can't seem to understand which way to go.

In the documentation, the code to start a server is very simple.

import asyncio

from websockets.asyncio.server import serve

async def hello(websocket):
    name = await websocket.recv()
    print(f"<<< {name}")

    greeting = f"Hello {name}!"

    await websocket.send(greeting)
    print(f">>> {greeting}")

async def main():
    async with serve(hello, "localhost", 8765) as server:
        await server.serve_forever()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

But when I simply copy and paste the code, the IDE cannot recognize the .recv() and the .send() methods. So I started to look around what is the type of the websocket object to get some idea about it and what other methods are available for that object. So I found that all these can be used:

- websockets.ServerConnection
- websockets.server.ServerConnection
- websockets.asyncio.server.ServerConnection

I think the methods they provide are the same. If these are significantly different, then an explanation? Can I use any of the three and it won't make much difference?

In the documentation, the asyncio implementation of the server creates a websockets.asyncio.server.ServerConnection instance upon client connection. So then what are the other classes?

I'm sorry if this is too basic.

Solution

  • No need to apologize — your question is valid, and it’s clear you’re trying to understand how the websockets library works. That’s awesome!

    So, here’s what’s going on:

    When you define async def hello(websocket), the websocket parameter is the connection object to the client. Specifically, if you’re using websockets.asyncio.server.serve, that websocket is an instance of websockets.asyncio.server.ServerConnection.

    The .recv() and .send() methods you’re using are part of that class — they’re the standard methods to receive and send messages. If your IDE doesn’t recognize them, it’s probably just not sure what type websocket is, or it’s missing some type hints.

    Now about those different class names: