Server-Sent Events<\/a> (SSE) is a standard for pushing real-time notifications from a server to a Browser<\/a> over a single HTTP<\/a> connection. Unlike WebSockets<\/a>, which provide full-duplex, bidirectional communication, SSE<\/a> is strictly unidirectional, sending data from the server to the client. This makes it a highly efficient choice for applications like live news feeds, social media updates, and financial tickers where the client does not need to send frequent data back to the server.<\/p> The technology is part of the HTML5<\/a> specification and utilizes the JavaScript<\/a> EventSource<\/a> API to manage the connection. According to the MDN Web Docs<\/a>, the server must respond with the text\/event-stream<\/code> MIME type and keep the connection alive. A significant advantage of SSE<\/a> over Long Polling<\/a> is its native support for automatic reconnection and event identification, as detailed in the WHATWG<\/a> Living Standard. Because it operates over standard HTTP<\/a>, it often bypasses firewall restrictions that might block other protocols.<\/p>