title: What are the differences between using a websocket based technology versus a realtime database like RethinkDB?
body: <p>Recently, I found myself wanting to develop a web application using real-time technologies. As far as I see, I have two ideal solutions.</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Use WebSockets. (in my case Socket.io) </li>
  <li>use a real-time database like RethinkDB (I guess stuff like Pusher and PubNub also fall into this category too)</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>I am lost, however. What are the technical differences between these two solutions? When should I prefer one over the other?</p>