Master Redis Messaging: Real-Time PubSub & Event Notifications

Boost Performance with Redis PubSub

Hi everyone! Guess what? Redis can do more than just store things. It can also send messages. Cool, right? Today, I’ll show you how Redis can help with sending messages fast. Let’s start!

What is Redis PubSub?

Ever heard of PubSub? It’s short for Publish/Subscribe. Imagine you have two friends. One friend (publisher) talks, and the other (subscriber) listens. Redis PubSub works the same way. Here’s the breakdown:

• Publisher: Sends messages.
• Subscriber: Listens for messages.
• Channel: Where messages go and come from.

Simple, right? Redis makes this kind of talking easy and fast, perfect for real-time chats.

Setting Up Redis for PubSub

Let’s get our hands dirty with some code. We’ll make two simple apps — a publisher and a consumer.

Creating the Publisher

First, we’ll make the publisher. This app will send messages to Redis. Here’s an example:

using StackExchange.Redis;
using System;
using System.Text.Json;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class Program
{
    private static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        var connection = await ConnectionMultiplexer.ConnectAsync("localhost:6379");
        var subscriber = connection.GetSubscriber();
        var channel = "messages";

        while (true)
        {
            Console.Write("Type your message: ");
            var text = Console.ReadLine();

            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(text)) continue;

            var message = new RedisMessage { Id = Guid.NewGuid(), Text = text };
            var serializedMessage = JsonSerializer.Serialize(message);

            await subscriber.PublishAsync(channel, serializedMessage);
        }
    }

    public record RedisMessage(Guid Id, string Text);
}

This app connects to Redis and waits for you to type a message. Then, it sends that message to a channel called “messages”. Easy, right?

Creating the Consumer