Differences between websockets and long polling for turn based game server
For anyone else who may be wondering, it could depends on how long typical interactions go between events?
Websocket: Anything more than a few tens of seconds, I don't think keeping a websocket open is particularly efficient (not to mention that IIRC it would disconnect anyway if the app loses focus)
Long polling: This forces a trade-off between server load (anything new now? how about now? ...) and speediness of knowing a change has occurred.
Push notifications: While this may be technically more complex to implement, it really would be the best solution IMO, since:
- the notification can be sent (and delivered) almost immediately after an event occurs
- there is no
standbyserver load (either from open websockets, or "how about now?" queries) - which is especially important as your use-base grows - you can override what happens if a notification comes in while the user is in-app