Re: [push] Consider renaming "push notification" to "push message" in the Push API spec

Sure, but this is only a reflection of the semantic space of the English language. Many things can be source of confusion. Understanding context is the responsibility of the reader. We will do what we can to provide clarifying guidance on the use of terms, but "Push Message" is a well-established term, as well "Push Notification". The question, which has to be answered by understanding the context, is who or what is the recipient. Note that even the term "Server" can be tricky as "client" and "server" roles can apply to various software entities executing on different devices or even the same device.

Thanks,
Bryan Sullivan

On Mar 13, 2014, at 8:24 AM, "Mark Nottingham" <mnot@mnot.net<mailto:mnot@mnot.net>> wrote:

FWIW, we also have “Server Push” in HTTP/2; that seems confusable as well…


On 11 Mar 2014, at 7:36 pm, Michael van Ouwerkerk <mvanouwerkerk@google.com<mailto:mvanouwerkerk@google.com>> wrote:

I think that's a great suggestion Jeffrey.

Specifically, I would like to avoid confusing concepts and terminology in the Push API with those in Web Notifications: http://www.w3.org/TR/notifications/

This is important because these two APIs are often discussed together: an app might display a notification to the user after receiving a push message from the server.

Regards,

Michael



On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 6:14 PM, Jeffrey Yasskin <jyasskin@google.com<mailto:jyasskin@google.com>> wrote:
The term "push notification" in
https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/push/raw-file/tip/index.html#dfn-push-notification
seems to confuse people into thinking that the user will be
notified/bothered when such a message arrives. This is reinforced by
the fact that iOS uses "push notification" for exactly that: a way to
notify the user based on a message from a server. See
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/NetworkingInternet/Conceptual/RemoteNotificationsPG/Chapters/WhatAreRemoteNotif.html.

Since the spec already uses the name "PushMessage" for the thing
delivered by a push notification
(https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/push/raw-file/tip/index.html#pushmessage-interface),
it seems like "push message" would be a good replacement for the
current ambiguous name.

Thanks,
Jeffrey Yasskin

P.S. I'm not subscribed to public-webapps@, so please cc me if you
want me to reply.




--
Mark Nottingham   http://www.mnot.net/