Atmosphere vs Aura: What are the differences?

Introduction

Atmosphere and Aura are both frameworks used for building real-time web applications. However, there are key differences between the two that set them apart from each other.

1. Messaging Protocol: Atmosphere uses WebSocket as its default messaging protocol, providing full-duplex communication between the client and the server. On the other hand, Aura utilizes the Bayeux protocol, which is built on top of WebSocket and provides publish-subscribe messaging capabilities.

2. Compatibility: Atmosphere is compatible with a wide range of web containers, such as Tomcat, Jetty, and GlassFish, allowing developers to choose the one that best suits their needs. Aura, on the other hand, is specifically designed for use with the Salesforce platform, making it the preferred choice for building real-time applications within the Salesforce ecosystem.

3. Scalability: Atmosphere is known for its high scalability, as it can handle a large number of concurrent connections efficiently. It achieves this through its support for clustering and load balancing. On the other hand, Aura provides built-in scalability features that are tailored to Salesforce’s infrastructure and automatically handle the distribution of application instances across multiple servers.

4. Client-Side Development: Atmosphere provides a JavaScript library that allows developers to interact with the Atmosphere server from the client-side. This library offers various features, such as subscribing to server-side events and sending messages. In contrast, Aura provides a comprehensive client-side framework called "Lightning Components" that enables developers to build rich, responsive, and reusable components for Salesforce applications.

5. Integration with Salesforce Platform: One of the major differences between Atmosphere and Aura is their integration with the Salesforce platform. Aura is specifically designed to seamlessly integrate with Salesforce, allowing developers to leverage Salesforce's data model, user interface components, and security features. Atmosphere, on the other hand, is a more general-purpose framework that can be integrated with various platforms, including Salesforce, but doesn't offer the same level of integration and pre-built functionality as Aura.

6. Community and Support: Aura has a robust community and a dedicated support team, as it is an official Salesforce product. Users can access extensive documentation, forums, and various resources provided by Salesforce to assist with development using Aura. Atmosphere, being an open-source project, also has an active community that offers support and maintains the project. However, the level of support and resources available may not be as extensive as those provided by Salesforce for Aura.

In summary, Atmosphere and Aura differ in terms of messaging protocol, compatibility, scalability, client-side development, integration with Salesforce, and community support. Atmosphere is a versatile framework that can be used with multiple platforms, while Aura is specifically designed for building real-time applications within the Salesforce ecosystem.