AJAX vs. Flash vs. Java

[dlebowski]

I have a situation that requires someones expertise on AJAX.  I currently have an online application that needs to be updated real time.  So, I am using ajax to do a DB query every 1 second.  There is only one record in the DB that gets updated real time and these ajax requests just query the data from that one record.  There can be up to 80 individuals logged in and viewing this page.  All of them hitting my server every 1 second with AJAX. 

 

Is this going to create too much of a drag on the resources on my server?  If so, would Flash or Java be a better option?  And if so, how do those technologies work?  Don't they have to make the same requests to the database every second as well?  Wouldn't the server load be the same?  I am really in desperate need of figuring this out soon!  Any suggestions or comments would be welcomed!  Thank you.

 

Ryan

[trq]

Is this going to create too much of a drag on the resources on my server?

 

That would completely depend on your server, but yes, it will have an impact.

 

Using Java or Flash would be of no benefit. Do you really need to make the request every second? Even moving it out to every 5 seconds would decrease the load significantly.

[dlebowski]

Hi Thorpe.  This is a live bidding application for an auction company.  It has to be every second unfortunately.  I have the AJAX running a small php script every second.  Doesn't Java and Flash basically work the same way in that it is running the script every second to get real time data updates?  So essentially the load will be the same?

[trq]

Doesn't Java and Flash basically work the same way in that it is running the script every second to get real time data updates?  So essentially the load will be the same?

 

That is indeed correct. Either way, if your data is on your server, any client (be it flash, java, or javascript) needs to make a request back to the server.