Re: Server Sent Events vs Web Sockets?

On Tue, 13 Apr 2010, Dominique Hazael-Massieux wrote:
> Le lundi 12 avril 2010 à 17:47 +0000, Ian Hickson a écrit :
> > Server sent events doesn't require any change to the network, it's 
> > compatible with almost any setup that uses HTTP today. Web Sockets 
> > requires that intermediaries support full-duplex connections. Server sent 
> > events is compatible with today's HTTP servers. Web Sockets requires new 
> > Web Socket servers.
> 
> OK — in other words, Server Sent Events should be easier to deploy.
> 
> > Server Sent Events has a variety of features that Web Sockets lacks by 
> > design, such as reconnection, event IDs, and the ability to send 
> > arbitrary events.
> 
> So, Server Sent Events adds to Web Sockets a specific protocol for 
> dealing with events, a useful pattern to optimize.
> 
> > These differences mean that there will likely be a reason for both to 
> > exist for a long time.
> 
> Yeah, I didn't mean to question that; I'm just trying to see the full 
> picture.
> 
> > > Currently, the two documents don't reference each other at all; some 
> > > clarification of their relationship in the specs themselves would be 
> > > useful, I think.
> > 
> > They're part of the same document:
> >    http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/complete.html#comms
> 
> Whether you consider them as sections or documents, I think it would 
> still be useful to document (however briefly) their interrelationship 
> (as you just did).

Do you have any suggestion as to how to do that? I don't really see why 
the Web Sockets section would mention the Server-sent events section, and 
vice versa; they seem like unrelated technologies. I mean, they're as 
related to each other as they are to form submission or XMLHttpRequest, 
but those aren't mentioned either.

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
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Things that are impossible just take longer.   `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'