The Backend Engineering Show with Hussein Nasser
The genius of long polling
Dec 6, 2024
Discover the fascinating world of long polling and its role in backend efficiency. Explore how it improves upon traditional polling, reducing latency and resource consumption. Delve into its benefits for scalable database management, emphasizing efficient data sorting and predictable system behavior. Learn about request resumption and how to harness the full potential of long polling to enhance your applications. This insightful discussion uncovers the genius behind a seemingly simple yet powerful design pattern.
28:57
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Quick takeaways
- Long polling significantly improves backend efficiency by reducing the chattiness of traditional polling through delayed responses until data is available.
- Implementing long polling enhances system reliability and user experience by allowing clients to reconnect and resume requests after disconnections.
Deep dives
Understanding Polling in Computing
Polling is defined as the process used to check for the presence of data by sending requests to a server or API. This technique requires determining the frequency of requests, which poses challenges in balancing the optimal polling interval; checking too frequently can overwhelm the server while checking too infrequently can result in missed updates. Unlike traditional short polling, which can lead to excessive network traffic and server strain, long polling improves efficiency by holding a request open until the server has new information to send. This method reduces unnecessary requests and conserves server resources, ultimately ensuring more effective communication between the client and backend.
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