Twitter New tweets feature?

Question

How does twitter implement the asynchronous notifications for new tweets ?

If it is a form of server push technology, does any one know or suggest how this feature could have been implemented ?

Thanks

Answer 1

They don't push. They use the window.setTimeout JavaScript function to periodically poll the Server through AJAX, and if there are new results then they display that notification bar.

Answer 2

Twitter does not have push technology. Any asynchronous notifications are done by a third-party application that that checks for new tweets asynchronously. If you are writing your own app, then you are going to be the one to handle this. Twitter does not push tweets out. You will have to constantly go get them.