You have to use polling, but you can use a technique called Comet which involves long-polling, i.e. sending out an ajax request that will be held by the server until a chat request comes in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_(programming))
Hristo
This is like the 5th time I’ve heard about Comet… probably time for me to check it out. Thanks. Can you give me some more specifics on the logic behind Comet?
Mike Sherov
@hristo, Comet isn’t a specific technology. It’s the name given to any technique to simulate pushing data over the web. It’s as much a technology as Ajax is.
Hristo
Thanks for the explanation. I’ll check it out
Jamie Wong
+1 Hadn’t heard the term before - sounds useful. This may be of use: http://www.dashdashverbose.com/2010/02/nodejs-websockets-stoopid-easy-comet.html
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