SSE vs WebSockets

"In today's text, I want to take a closer look at Server Sent Events (or SSE for short) and WebSockets. Both are good and battle-tested approaches to data exchange. I will start with a short characteristic of both tools - what they are and what they offer. Then, I will compare them according to eight categories, which, in my opinion, are the most crucial for modern-day systems."

"The categories are as follows: Communication Direction Underlying Protocol Security Simplicity Performance Message Structure Ease of Adoption Tooling In contrast to my previous comparison, which compared REST and qRPC I will not proclaim any winner or grant points per category. Instead, in the Summary paragraph, you will find a kind of TL;DR table. The table contains the key differences between both technologies in the above-mentioned areas."

Server Sent Events (SSE) and WebSockets are established mechanisms for real-time data exchange with distinct trade-offs. SSE uses HTTP and is primarily uni-directional, making it well-suited for event streams and simpler integration with existing HTTP infrastructure. WebSockets establish a persistent, TCP-based full-duplex channel that enables low-latency bidirectional communication for interactive applications. Both rely on TLS for security, though WebSockets can require additional handling for proxies and subprotocols. SSE typically uses text/event-stream framing, while WebSockets support arbitrary text or binary frames. Adoption, tooling, and performance needs determine the appropriate choice.

Read at Medium