A Comparison of Push and Pull Techniques for AJAX

A Comparison of Push and Pull Techniques for AJAX

Bozdag, E.
Mesbah, A.
Van Deursen, A.

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Software Technology

2007-12-31

AJAX applications are designed to have high user interactivity and low user-perceived latency. Real-time dynamic web data such as news headlines, stock tickers, and auction updates need to be propagated to the users as soon as possible. However, AJAX still suffers from the limitations of the Web’s request/response architecture which prevents servers from pushing real-time dynamic web data. Such applications usually use a pull style to obtain the latest updates, where the client actively requests the changes based on a predefined interval. It is possible to overcome this limitation by adopting a push style of interaction where the server broadcasts data when a change occurs on the server side. Both these options have their own trade-offs. This paper explores the fundamental limits of browser-based applications and analyzes push solutions for AJAX technology. It also shows the results of an empirical study comparing push and pull. Preprint accepted for publication in 9th IEEE International Workshop on Web Site Evolution, 2007. WSE 2007. 9th IEEE International Workshop on

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:cc446e08-6668-4694-b8b0-7ca96cb8e088

Delft University of Technology, Software Engineering Research Group

1872-5392

Technical Report Series TUD-SERG-2007-016a

Institutional Repository

report

(c) 2007 The authors. Software Engineering Research Group, Department of Software Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Delft University of Technology.