🛠️ Learning WebSocket by Doing: How I Built Real-Time Appointment Notifications

🧩 The Problem

Recently while working on a project, I had to implement a feature:

When a customer books an appointment, the manager must get notified in real-time.

After thinking through it, two options came to mind:

1. A refresh button to fetch new data

2. Use WebSockets for real-time updates

Guess which one I chose?

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🚀 Why WebSocket?

Simply put, WebSocket upgrades the HTTP connection to create a persistent connection between client and server. This means:

• Server can push data to clients

• All connected users receive updates instantly

Perfect for real-time use cases like:

• Chat apps

• Notifications

• Live dashboards

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🧠 My Learning Process

At first, I thought it would be difficult...
But after watching a few YouTube videos (big thanks to CodeWithHarry and Anuj Bhaiya) and researching on GPT, I understood the basics and got to work.

I created a socket.js file, handled io.on("connection"), and emitted an event whenever a new appointment was created.

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🧪 Result

The feature was successfully implemented and eventually got merged into the codebase after a few fixes.

It was a huge confidence boost, and a reminder that:

The best way to learn is often by building.

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📌 What I Used:

• React.js (frontend)

• Node.js + Express (backend)

• socket.io for WebSocket

• MongoDB

• GitHub for collaboration

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💬 Final Thoughts

This wasn't just about WebSocket — it was about learning in the flow of work.
If you're stuck between theory and real-world coding — pick the real-world problem.