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Apache Thrift VS websocketd

Compare Apache Thrift VS websocketd and see what are their differences

Apache Thrift logo Apache Thrift

An interface definition language and communication protocol for creating cross-language services.

websocketd logo websocketd

Turn any program that uses STDIN/STDOUT into a WebSocket server. Like inetd, but for WebSockets.
  • Apache Thrift Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-07-12
  • websocketd Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-12-27

Apache Thrift features and specs

  • Cross-Language Support
    Apache Thrift supports numerous programming languages including Java, Python, C++, Ruby, and more, enabling seamless communication between services written in different languages.
  • Efficient Serialization
    Thrift offers efficient binary serialization which helps in reducing the payload size and improves the communication speed between services.
  • Service Definition Flexibility
    Thrift provides a robust interface definition language (IDL) for defining and generating code for services with strict type checking, fostering strong contract interfaces.
  • Scalability
    Due to its lightweight and efficient serialization mechanisms, Apache Thrift can handle a large number of simultaneous client connections, making it suitable for scalable distributed systems.
  • Versioning Support
    Thrift supports service versioning which helps in evolving APIs without disrupting existing services or clients.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Thrift

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For new users, especially those not familiar with RPC frameworks, learning and understanding Thrift’s IDL and operations can be complex and time-consuming.
  • Documentation and Community Support
    Compared to some alternative technologies, Apache Thrift's documentation and community support can be less robust, which might pose challenges in troubleshooting or seeking guidance.
  • Lack of Advanced Features
    Thrift does not support some advanced features like streaming or multiplexing out of the box, which could limit its use in complex systems requiring these functionalities.
  • Infrastructure Overhead
    Integrating Thrift into an existing system might introduce infrastructure overhead both in initial setup and ongoing maintenance, especially when dealing with multiple languages.
  • Protocol Limitations
    While Thrift is highly efficient, its protocol limitations might require additional workarounds for certain data structures or transport mechanisms, complicating development.

websocketd features and specs

  • Simplicity
    Websocketd is straightforward to use, turning any local executable into a WebSocket server. It requires minimal configuration and setup, making it accessible for beginners.
  • Language Agnostic
    Since websocketd can wrap any executable, developers can use it with any programming language they prefer, allowing for flexibility in choosing the right tools for their projects.
  • Lightweight
    Websocketd is a lightweight tool with minimal overhead, making it ideal for projects that require efficient WebSocket communication without the need for a full-featured server.
  • Rapid Prototyping
    The ease of setting up websocketd allows developers to quickly prototype WebSocket applications and test new ideas without significant investment in infrastructure.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source project, websocketd benefits from community contributions and transparency, ensuring continuous improvement and trustworthiness of the software.

Possible disadvantages of websocketd

  • Limited Features
    While its simplicity is an advantage, websocketd's feature set is minimal. It does not provide advanced capabilities such as authentication, performance monitoring, or compression.
  • Lack of Built-in Scalability
    Websocketd doesn't come with built-in support for high scalability or distributed systems, which can be a limitation for applications needing to handle a large number of simultaneous connections.
  • No Native HTTP Support
    Websocketd is focused solely on WebSockets, so it lacks native support for serving regular HTTP endpoints, which may necessitate additional infrastructure for projects requiring mixed communication.
  • Manual Process Management
    Developers have to handle process management manually, which includes ensuring the stability of wrapped programs and addressing issues that arise from resource limits.
  • Community Size
    Compared to more established tools, websocketd has a smaller community, which can lead to fewer resources in terms of documentation, tutorials, and community support.

Analysis of Apache Thrift

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Apache Thrift is considered to be a good option for projects needing cross-language communication and efficient serialization. Its efficiency and wide adoption have proven it to be a reliable framework in many production environments.

Why this product is good

  • Apache Thrift is a widely used framework for scalable cross-language services development. It allows for seamless communication between programs written in different languages by providing code generation and serialization capabilities for a variety of languages. Thrift supports an efficient binary protocol and is highly customizable, making it a robust choice for services that require performance and flexibility. Additionally, it's an open-source project under the Apache Software Foundation, which ensures it has a strong community and ongoing updates.

Recommended for

  • Organizations that require cross-language service communication
  • Projects that need high-performance and low-latency data transmission
  • Developers looking for a framework with support for multiple programming languages
  • Teams looking for a customizable serialization protocol

Apache Thrift videos

Apache Thrift

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Thrift and websocketd)
Web Servers
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Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Web And Application Servers
APIs
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User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache Thrift should be more popular than websocketd. It has been mentiond 13 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apache Thrift mentions (13)

  • Show HN: TypeSchema – A JSON specification to describe data models
    I once read a paper about Apache/Meta Thrift [1,2]. It allows you to define data types/interfaces in a definition file and generate code for many programming languages. It was specifically designed for RPCs and microservices. [1]: https://thrift.apache.org/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Delving Deeper: Enriching Microservices with Golang with CloudWeGo
    While gRPC and Apache Thrift have served the microservice architecture well, CloudWeGo's advanced features and performance metrics set it apart as a promising open source solution for the future. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Reddit System Design/Architecture
    Services in general communicate via Thrift (and in some cases HTTP). Source: over 3 years ago
  • Universal type language!
    Protocol Buffers is the most popular one, but there are many others such as Apache Thrift and my own Typical. Source: over 3 years ago
  • You worked on it? Why is it slow then?
    RPC is not strictly OO, but you can think of RPC calls like method calls. In general it will reflect your interface design and doesn't have to be top-down, although a good project usually will look that way. A good contrast to REST where you use POST/PUT/GET/DELETE pattern on resources where as a procedure call could be a lot more flexible and potentially lighter weight. Think of it like defining methods in code... Source: almost 4 years ago
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websocketd mentions (4)

  • ht: Headless Terminal
    Reminds me quite a bit of websocketd as well, which converts a stdin/stdout program to a websocket: http://websocketd.com/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Structured Logging with Slog
    I hadn't even considered collecting traces/spans in this way yet, and have taken the approach of "stuff outputting logs in JSON format to stderr/local file". I usually end up writing a (temporary, structured) log message with the relevant span tags, but wouldn't it would be much better to run the actual trace/span code and be able to verify it locally without the ad-hoc log message? The prototype I built is a web... - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • WebSocket to TCP bridge for game servers? Alternative to websockify?
    I also used to use this (http://websocketd.com/) along with netcat(1) before just biting the bullet and writing my own websocket library for our server as we needed to scale up slightly. Source: over 3 years ago
  • C or C++ as web app backend?
    Http://websocketd.com/ (Runs command line C or C++ programs as websocket programs, similar to inetd / CGI). Source: almost 5 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Thrift and websocketd, you can also consider the following products

Docker Hub - Docker Hub is a cloud-based registry service

soketi - Your simple, fast, and resilient open-source WS server.

Apache ZooKeeper - Apache ZooKeeper is an effort to develop and maintain an open-source server which enables highly reliable distributed coordination.

Hook Relay - So you want to add webhooks to your app, and after having worked with the webhooks that Stripe provides, you want yours to be as great as theirs.

Eureka - Eureka is a contact center and enterprise performance through speech analytics that immediately reveals insights from automated analysis of communications including calls, chat, email, texts, social media, surveys and more.

Pusher - Pusher is a hosted API for quickly, easily and securely adding scalable realtime functionality via WebSockets to web and mobile apps.