Custom WebSocket Implementation in Python

This project implements a custom WebSocket server and client from scratch in Python. It provides a robust, low-latency, real-time communication system with features like message framing, handshakes, bi-directional communication, and heartbeat mechanism.

Features

• Custom WebSocket server and client implementation
• SSL/TLS support for secure connections
• Heartbeat mechanism to maintain connections and detect disconnects early
• Multi-threading for handling concurrent connections
• Logging for better debugging and monitoring
• Unit tests for individual components
• Stress test script for performance analysis

Project Structure

• websocket_server.py: The WebSocket server implementation
• websocket_client.py: The WebSocket client implementation
• stress_test.py: A script to test the server under load
• test_websocket_server.py: Unit tests for the server
• test_websocket_client.py: Unit tests for the client

Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• No external libraries required for core functionality

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/moebqr/websocket-from-scratch-py.git
   cd websocket-from-scratch-py
   

2. (Optional) Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows, use `venv\Scripts\activate`
   

Usage

Running the WebSocket Server

1. Open a terminal and navigate to the project directory.
2. Run the server:

   python websocket_server.py
   

   The server will start and listen on localhost:8765 by default.

Running the WebSocket Client

1. Open another terminal and navigate to the project directory.

2. Run the client:

   python websocket_client.py
   

   The client will connect to the server running on localhost:8765.

3. Enter messages when prompted. Type 'quit' to exit the client.

Running the Stress Test

To test the server's performance under load:

python stress_test.py

This will simulate multiple clients connecting and sending messages to the server.

Running Tests

To run the unit tests:

python -m unittest discover

SSL/TLS Support

To enable SSL/TLS:

1. Generate SSL certificate and key:

   openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 365 -nodes
   

2. Update the server and client code (Still incomplete)