Do we really want to overload XMLHttpRequest with "comet-style"
functionality? XMLHttpRequest is already quite complex.
A good point. Like I said before, multipart support is complex, and the
value is not super high. I would like to see it, but I am not going to put
forth a lot of effort to defend it. However, I believe most comet developers
will continue to lean on XHR even if HTML5 server-sent events become more
pervasive, and the extra connection and pipeling control are extremely
valuable tools for that with minimal API addition. Pipelining control in
particular has significant value even beyond "comet-style" long-lived
connections, and as I responded Maciej, could help us through the current
pipelining impasse.
I'd personally (and I think the company I represent would agree) much
rather go with the server-sent events proposal in HTML 5.
Obviously, your company was the first (and only one so far?) to implement it
;). No offense intended, it just that for a number of reasons, comet
developers have not been universally eager to use utilize this approach,
many preferring more XHR centric approaches where there is more direct
control of the API (no need to go through DOM elements) and the
communication format.
The idea of this proposal is standardize (with appropriate fixes) Mozilla's
existing multipart support, which could be a lot easier for comet developers
to utilize.
Thanks,
Kris
