[LINK] WebSockets

[Ivan Trundle]

On 29/03/2011, at 11:52 AM, Paul Bolger wrote:

> So how is this different for the end user to the AJAX, or whatever it
> is, that Ebay uses to drive the real time bid price updates?

AJAX clients just send requests (post or get typically) to the server and await a response - there is an overhead when multiple requests are queued. AJAX works through the XMLHttpRequest object in the DOM API. Each AJAX request opens a new connection between browser and server.

Websockets is an alternative API, from my understanding (a type of push technology), which allows more control over the socket that the browser creates, and allows for non-http transfers (such as streaming), and bi-directional transfers. It also reduces the overhead at either end, since the connection between client and server stays open. Useful for asynchronous data transmission.

I think that both will have their place in future browser function, but applied differently for different purposes.

--
Ivan Trundle
http://itrundle.com ivan at itrundle.com ph 0418 244 259