title: Are WebSockets suitable for real-time multiplayer games?
body: <p>I'm interested in building a small real-time multiplayer game, using HTML5/JavaScript for the client and probably Java for the server software.</p>
  
  <p>I looked into WebSockets a bit, but it appears I had misconceptions on what WebSockets actually are.  I had initially thought of WebSockets as just JavaScript's way of handling TCP sockets, just as they are used in Java and other languages, but it appears there is a whole handshaking process that must take place, and each transmission includes much HTTP overhead (and in that case, the benefits over Ajax do not seem as exciting as at a first glance)?</p>
  
  <p>On a related topic, are there any better alternatives to WebSockets for this purpose (real-time multiplayer games in JavaScript)?</p>