Client server communication: REST vs Socket architecture

Question

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using only socket based communication vs a hybrid of REST and socket (using socket only when bidirectional communication is necessary, like receiving messages in a chat).

When I say only socket, I mean that instead of sending a GET request asking for /entities, I'd send update_needed and the server would send a push via socket.

My question is not really about performance, it's more about the concept, like delegate vs block/lambda (using socket would be like the delegate concept and REST is more like block).

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:22

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It all boils down to what type of application and level of scalability you have in mind.

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Hard downsides of long polling?

edited May 23 '17 at 12:22

Community

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answered Sep 28 '15 at 10:54

vtortola

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My question is not really about performance, it's more about the concept, like delegate vs block/lambda – Rodrigo Ruiz Sep 29 '15 at 01:06

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 28 '15 at 15:40

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The main reason why I wouldn't use WebSockets in any major project is simply that still many users don't use a modern browser that support them. Namely IE 8 and 9 don't support them and both together still have a market share of over 20 % (Oct 15).

answered Sep 28 '15 at 15:40

Kris

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Let's say the client is an iOS app – Rodrigo Ruiz Sep 29 '15 at 01:05
If you are building a modern web application, people using IE 8 and 9 will suffer other major limitations beyond websockets https://people.mozilla.org/~prouget/ie9/ – vtortola Sep 29 '15 at 06:42

Client server communication: REST vs Socket architecture

2 Answers2