uSockets
A minimal, cross-platform networking library providing optimized TCP, TLS, QUIC, and HTTP3 transports for async applications.
What is uSockets?
µSockets is a minimal, cross-platform networking library that provides optimized, non-blocking transports for TCP, TLS, QUIC, and HTTP3. It serves as the foundation for µWebSockets, enabling high-performance asynchronous applications with a single, consistent API across different platforms and event loops.
Developers building high-performance networked applications, such as web servers, real-time systems, or custom protocols, who need a lightweight, cross-platform networking layer with support for modern transports like QUIC.
Developers choose µSockets for its minimal footprint, proven stability, and ability to write transport-agnostic code that runs efficiently across multiple platforms and event loops without modification.
Overview
Miniscule cross-platform eventing, networking & crypto for async applications
Use Cases
Best For
- Building high-performance web servers or real-time applications
- Developing cross-platform networking code with support for modern transports like QUIC and HTTP3
- Creating lightweight embedded systems with minimal dependencies
- Implementing custom protocols that require TCP, TLS, or QUIC support
- Optimizing async I/O with thread-per-CPU architecture
- Foundational networking layer for projects like µWebSockets
Not Ideal For
- Projects requiring immediate, stable HTTP/3 implementation out-of-the-box
- Teams needing extensive documentation, tutorials, or a large community for support
- Applications with simple, blocking I/O that don't benefit from high-performance optimizations
- Environments with strict policies against external dependencies like BoringSSL or lsquic
Pros & Cons
Pros
Provides a single, consistent interface for TCP, TLS, QUIC, and HTTP3 across all platforms and event loops, enabling code to run anywhere without modifications, as highlighted in the README's 'Write code once' philosophy.
Can be built as a tiny TCP-only library with zero external dependencies or extended with BoringSSL and lsquic, offering flexibility for lightweight or feature-rich deployments, per the 'Lightweight or featureful' section.
Used as the foundation for µWebSockets since 2016 with fuzz-tested reliability and thread-per-CPU design optimized for multi-core systems, ensuring high performance in production.
Integrates with various event loops like io_uring, libuv, ASIO, and GCD via compile-time configurations, allowing developers to choose the best fit for their platform.
Cons
QUIC and io_uring are explicitly listed as work-in-progress in the README, meaning these advanced transports and event loops may not be fully stable or available.
Requires managing multiple compile-time flags (e.g., WITH_QUIC, WITH_IO_URING) and dependencies, which can be error-prone and daunting for developers new to the library.
The README focuses on high-level features with minimal examples or tutorials, lacking detailed guidance that could hinder rapid adoption and debugging.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
uWebSocketsSimple, secure & standards compliant web server for the most demanding of applications
Sogou WorkflowC++ Parallel Computing and Asynchronous Networking Framework
PistacheA high-performance REST toolkit written in C++
Enduro/XEnduro/X Middleware Platform for Distributed Transaction Processing
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