Long-Polling vs WebSockets vs Server-Sent Events

HTTP web request

1. The client opens a connection and requests data from the server. 2. The server calculates the response. 3. The server sends the response back to the client on the opened request.

Ajax Polling

Polling is a standard technique used by the vast majority of AJAX applications. The basic idea is that the client repeatedly polls (or requests) a server for data. The client makes a request and waits for the server to respond with data. If no data is available, an empty response is returned.

HTTP Long Polling

This is a variation of the traditional polling technique that allows the server to push information to a client whenever the data is available. With Long-Polling, the client requests information from the server exactly as in normal polling, but with the expectation that the server may not respond immediately. 1. If the server does not have any data available for the client, instead of sending an empty response, the server holds the request and waits until some data becomes available. 2. Once the data becomes available, a full response is sent to the client. The client then immediately re-request information from the server so that the server will almost always have an available waiting request that it can use to deliver data in response to an event.

Server-Sent Events (SSEs)

Under SSEs the client establishes a persistent and long-term connection with the server. The server uses this connection to send data to a client. If the client wants to send data to the server, it would require the use of another technology/protocol to do so. Best for 'real-time' 1. Client requests data from a server using regular HTTP. 2. The requested webpage opens a connection to the server. 3. The server sends the data to the client whenever there's new information available.

WebSockets

WebSocket provides Full duplex communication channels over a single TCP connection. It provides a persistent connection between a client and a server that both parties can use to start sending data at any time. The client establishes a WebSocket connection through a process known as the WebSocket handshake. If the process succeeds, then the server and client can exchange data in both directions at any time