3 ms·
Let's look at some strategies for updating content on a page... #1: Give users a link they can click that says "Click here to refresh" #2: Implement <meta h
by cj 7y ago
Let's look at some strategies for updating content on a page...
#1: Give users a link they can click that says "Click here to refresh"
#2: Implement <meta http-equiv="refresh>. Usability win: direct user interaction not required
#3: Implement http polling. Usability win: the page doesn't flicker and disrupt the user, since no page refresh is necessary
#4: Implement http long polling. Usability win: ???
#5: Implement SSE. Usability win: ???
#6: Implement Websockets. Usability win: ???
TLDR: The user doesn't care if you use http polling or websockets.
New + complex is no better (and often worse) than old, boring and simple.
- Matthias247 7y agoThe usability win from 3 to other solutions is: Users don't have to wait until the next polling interval expired in order to get an update. In interactive applications users don't expect delays, so you should display updates in around 100ms. Achieving that with polling might not be feasible for some applications.