JavaScript socket vs. Flash socket?

Steve Jobs just posted this article on why Apple rejects Flash... http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

I agree that javascript and css can be used to replicate some of Flash's animation, though Flash does all sorts of scaling and tweening that is incredibly powerful, and I'm not sure that there's anything comparable in javascript, if there is, I certainly haven't seen it.

However, my question is about the socket. Flash has 开发者_开发知识库an incredibly powerful openSocket class that allows you to connect to a server and have the server and the client talk back and forth to one another. As far as I know there is no equivalent class in Javascript. Am I mistaken? Is there some secret mystery Ajax class that replicates the openSocket? If not, then that feature alone makes Flash an invaluable tool.

I'm interested in all answers though... and yes this IS a programming question! :)

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The only implementation that I've seen is WebSockets, it was part of the HTML5 specification but now it is an standalone spec.

Is currently available AFIK on WebKit based browsers, but seems that in Firefox they are working on it.

Give a look to the following resources:

• Web Sockets Now Available In Google Chrome
• Comet is dead long live websockets