Real-Time Updates in Web Apps: Why I Chose SSE Over WebSockets

Modern web apps need real-time communication—whether it's a chat app, stock ticker, or live sports commentary. There are multiple ways to implement it: HTTP Polling WebSockets Server-Sent Events (SSE) In this blog, I’ll walk you through why I picked SSE for my commentary app, how it works, and how you can implement it using React and Node.js. First, let’s understand that all the methods we use for real-time updates—Polling, WebSockets, and SSE—are based on the principles of Event-Driven Architecture (EDA). So before comparing them, it's important to know what EDA is and how it shapes real-time communication.

May 5, 2025 - 21:41
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Real-Time Updates in Web Apps: Why I Chose SSE Over WebSockets

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Modern web apps need real-time communication—whether it's a chat app, stock ticker, or live sports commentary. There are multiple ways to implement it:

  • HTTP Polling
  • WebSockets
  • Server-Sent Events (SSE)

In this blog, I’ll walk you through why I picked SSE for my commentary app, how it works, and how you can implement it using React and Node.js.

First, let’s understand that all the methods we use for real-time updates—Polling, WebSockets, and SSE—are based on the principles of Event-Driven Architecture (EDA). So before comparing them, it's important to know what EDA is and how it shapes real-time communication.