Scribd
Upload
27 views

Event Protocols and Methods

The document discusses various communication protocols for client-server models including HTTP request, HTTP polling, long polling, websockets, and server sent events (SSE). HTTP request involves establishing a connection to make a request and receive a response. HTTP polling involves regularly making requests at intervals to check for new data. Long polling improves on this by keeping connections open for a period of time. Websockets allow for full-duplex persistent connections. SSE allows for unidirectional server pushing of data through an open connection without further requests.

Uploaded by

abhishek56.kumar96
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
27 views

Event Protocols and Methods

The document discusses various communication protocols for client-server models including HTTP request, HTTP polling, long polling, websockets, and server sent events (SSE). HTTP request involves establishing a connection to make a request and receive a response. HTTP polling involves regularly making requests at intervals to check for new data. Long polling improves on this by keeping connections open for a period of time. Websockets allow for full-duplex persistent connections. SSE allows for unidirectional server pushing of data through an open connection without further requests.

Uploaded by

abhishek56.kumar96
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

EventProtocolsAndMethods.

md 6/8/2020

Client Server Model - Communications & Events


There are different communication protocols available in client server model like HTTP request, HTTP
Polling, Long Polling, WebSockets and Server Sent Events(SSE). While building a real-time web
application where we need to send our data from the server to the client and vice-versa, it becomes
necessary to analyse the various options available for communication for better performance and
efficiency. Lets understand how a standard HTTP web request looks like and works.

HTTP Request

To make a request to the server for the data, client first needs to establish a connection (by
handshaking). A connection is opened and server do some processing and returns the response to the
client on the same opened connection, and then closes the connection.
Example: Fetching profile information on facebook.

HTTP Polling

The client can make a request to the server for the data using the http request, and keeps on knocking
the door of the server at regular interval (say after every 3 sec) for a response. The server will only
return useful response once its processing is completed otherwise it will keep sending empty responses
at the time of knock.
This method has several disadvantages like, getting lots of empty responses increasing the number of
network calls which in itself is considered as expensive task. Also it increases the header overhead,
consider you have requested for 1kb of data but you are attaching a JWT token of 16kb(assume, as it
can be this large in size), in every network calls.
Consider whatsapp application, if we are using HTTP Polling, it will keep on polling for the data, but
most of the times it will get empty response, and hence drains the batter of the mobile.
There might be some delay in delivering of message(mostly the interval duration, 3 sec in our case), as
we are continously polling after every 3 sec, but this can be a better fit for a usecase where we ask or
poll for the location update of the delivery guy, there having some delay will not cause us any harm,
although not recommended.

1/4
EventProtocolsAndMethods.md 6/8/2020

HTTP Long Polling

To better understand this scenario, consider you are riding a car, there is a child in the back seat. He
keeps on asking you, are we there? are we there? Irritating, right? (HTTP Polling) So you tell him, to
count the number of cross, we will reach our destination after 50 crosses. So he asks you again after 50
crosses, are we there ?
Similar thing happens in Long polling, after a client ask or request for data, you tell the client to wait for
certain amount of time(like counting 50 crosses), and after that it comes again asking for the data, and
server may or may not reply with the data if the processing is still incomplete.
Client waits for the response from server, by keeping the connection open, hence long polling.
After the response, client can make another request, in the similar manner.
Each request has a timeout, the client needs to reconnect periodically after the connection is closed
due to timeouts.
Consider whatsapp, if we want to use long polling, messaging would be rather better as compared to
normal HTTP Polling, as there be no or almost no empty response, although timeout and reconnection
might cause issue.
There are various disadavantages, like Header Overhead, Maximal Latency, Connection establishment,
Performance degradation, timeouts, but we can have a better solution than long polling.

2/4
EventProtocolsAndMethods.md 6/8/2020

WebSockets

Its opposite of Long Polling, websocket is persitent connection between the client and the server and
you are constantly transmitting the data in this connection. Best thing is, its a duplex connection,
meaning the client and server both can send data at any time, hence providing full-duplex
communication over single TCP connection.
Client send request (using handshaking) to the server, and then a TCP connection gets established
between the server and client through websocket.
It will further reduce the overhead of handshaking again and again as we are doing handshaking only
once, that too at the beginning.
Again take the example of whatsapp, if we are implementing websockets here, we can easily send and
receive messages in realtime to and from the server. It can be considered as much better solution so
far.
There can be unlimited number of connections possible with websockets, as long as your hardware is
able to handle that many number of connections.

3/4
EventProtocolsAndMethods.md 6/8/2020

Server Sent Events

SSE is unidirectional, you establish the connection once(which stays for long) and then the server sends
the data to you proactively. So its a server push technology, enabling a client to receive automatic
updates from a server, but you can no longer talk to the server. After establishing the connection you
can no longer request for anything from the server, the clients subscribes and the server starts pushing
data to the client.
If you want to send anything to the server, for that you will have to use normal HTTP Request.
Best usecase for such kind of connection is realtime data of stock market, as we will be getting updates
from the server continously, and we dont do any updates on it or send any update request (which is
managed by other process).

Abhishek
07 June, 2020

4/4

You might also like