title: Web worker AJAX or web sockets for checking a MYSQL database continuously?
body: <p>Hey guys I’m working on a website for my small startup that needs to check a database continuously for new data. I'm a mechanical engineer and don't have experience with web design and web communication. Currently I’m using an AJAX request every second to check a MYSQL database (using PHP). The code compares the received data (in JSON format) and if it’s different than the previous one it triggers a function to process the new data and update the UI. </p>
  
  <p>Just last night I learned about web workers, web sockets and long polling and kinda overwhelmed with all the new options I have now. I’m really confused about whether I need to change my current solution and which solution would be the best. I thought maybe I should create a dedicated web worker that handles the AJAX calls in order to avoid sacrificing UI smoothness (the website should run smoothly on an average tablet). </p>
  
  <p>Anyone with experience can give me some tips and directions? I learned about Pusher API but I would like to avoid API’s for now. I feel like all the code that I have written in the past few months are inefficient after reading about web workers and web sockets…</p>
  
  <p>Thanks in advance...</p>