Labs’ EventSource enabler is a realization of the Event Source API planned by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to allow updates on the fly. It gives developers the same functionality as the W3C API while waiting for the real thing.

W3C is an international community that develops standards to ensure the long-term growth of the web. Its upcoming Event Source API will enable developers to generate JavaScript events on a web server that triggers events on a client’s web browser. This simplifies the implementation of periodic updates from a web server to a client.

Vladimir Katardjiev is one of two Ericsson research engineers who worked on the Labs’ EventSource enabler, which was released in December 2009. He says the Labs’ enabler provides a lightweight JavaScript library that allows developers to use the current W3C Event Source API with almost any web browser. Katardjiev says Labs’ EventSource is intended for web enthusiasts and forward-looking developers that want to make future-proof applications using W3C Event Source functionality. They can write their applications now and get the same functionality, with a slightly reduced performance, as when the W3C API is released.

What kind of applications can you create with it?

Basically any form of applications that require live, fast text-based updates. Typically light web pages, web applications, or even widgets, with a need to update data on the fly. It could be a web-based stock ticker, a chat room or anything similar.

Do you see any trends in relation to your API?

There is a general move in the web area towards push and push-like technologies. This is part of a bid to make web applications require less bandwidth and reduce the need for them to “be alive” all the time.

What feedback have you had so far?

Several interested users have contacted Labs and many of them have asked us to make this enabler open source. We want to contribute to open source initiatives as much as we can, but for this enabler we figured that the best way to get it out would be to release it as quickly as possible and work on making it open source later.

What are your plans for the future?

If there are any changes to the API signatures, we will most likely update it. But eventually this enabler will be obsolete because browsers will include the W3C enabler natively.

Ericsson Labs is a portal on the web that contains beta enablers and applications, and provides an open environment for sharing information with application developers, technology partners and consumers.