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WebSocket Handshake Deep Dive

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WebSocket: HTTP's upgrade trick

WebSocket doesn't invent a new transport — it hijacks an HTTP connection and upgrades it to a full-duplex binary protocol. This clever design means WebSockets work through the same HTTP infrastructure (proxies, firewalls, load balancers) while providing true bidirectional communication.

The upgrade happens via a standard HTTP GET request with specific headers — the exact bytes matter.

Packets in motion — click to inspect:

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