Real-time Communication Patterns: Websockets vs Server-Sent Events vs Long Polling vs Short Polling vs WebRTC

Real-time Communication Patterns # WebSockets How it works : Full-duplex TCP connection, both client/server can send data anytime Key differentiator : True bidirectional real-time communication Ideal for : Chat apps, live gaming, collaborative editing, live trading Trade-off : More complex, requires connection management Server-Sent Events (SSE)