John Davidson

Message:

So far I used websockets to communicate between nodejs and php.
I created a websocket server in nodejs that is listening on some custom port.

Then in the php script I used stream_socket_client() and related functions to connect as client.
Then whenever I wanted something from the server I would send a message and expect a response with the data (as json). Then it would build the html to display that data to the user.

This works, however it does not seem natural and I was wondering if there are better options. Websockets are intended for the web as the name implies, but I am using it for local server and script

I should mention that the server needs to be able to communicate with multiple clients at the same time, because a website can have multiple visitors. The nodejs websocket modules offer this capability. But it does not need to keep connections alive, because the php script only does its thing and stops.

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My Answer:
One alternative option for communication between a Node.js server and a PHP website is using HTTP requests. You can have your Node.js server expose API endpoints that the PHP website can call using HTTP requests. This can be done using libraries like Axios in Node.js and cURL in PHP.

Another option is using a message queue system like RabbitMQ or Redis. Your Node.js server can publish messages to a queue, and the PHP website can consume these messages and process them accordingly.

You can also consider using a database as a communication medium between the Node.js server and the PHP website. The Node.js server can write data to a database, and the PHP website can read this data and display it to the user.

Overall, the best option for communication between a Node.js server and a PHP website will depend on the specific requirements of your application and the complexity of the data being exchanged. It's important to consider factors like scalability, performance, and ease of implementation when choosing the communication method.