Ruby: How to serve static HTML and an EventMachine WebSocket server from the same application?

Question

I'm writing a simple chat application. The only "front-end" required is a single html file, a javascript file, and a few stylesheets. The majority of the application is the server-side EventMachine WebSocket server.

I'm also trying to host this on Heroku.

I currently have a sinatra app that just serves the static files, and a separate app that serves the WebSocket server (on a different port).

Is there a way I can combine these so that I can start up one application which serves/responds to port 80 (for the static files) and another port for the WebSocket server?

Answer 1

It's probably not a good idea to have your WebSocket server run on a different port. WebSockets run on port 80 specifically because that port is not blocked on most networks. If you use a different port, you will find users behind some firewalls unable to use your application.

Running your event server separate from your web server is probably the best way to go.

Answer 2

If you want something a bit more experimental, Goliath has WebSocket support in the master branch and can also serve the needed resources. If you look in the examples directory there is a WebSocket server that also serves it's HTML page.