Life In 19x19

EdLee wrote:Hi SpongeBob,

SpongeBob wrote:On KGS there is the always present problem of lagging. Not on Tygem, where your stone is placed immediately, not after a response from the server reaches you. This makes for a whole different playing experience, imo.

But that's an illusion, isn't it. No server can guarantee zero lag, because there are always intermediaries -- say, your ISP crashes; or any hiccup anywhere between your client and the server half the globe away -- so the author has to make a choice: either show the new move immediately on the client side, regardless of whether the move itself has actually reached the server, or, wait for the server response, then show the move.

Some people, like you, are happy to see the immediate placement of the move on your client, even if it takes a minute or longer to receive the server response. Even if it never reaches the server in the first place.

Another choice is to wait for the server response.
In this second option, if there is indeed a lag,
you find out about it sooner, because you experience the delay.

In the first option, you see your move immediately on your client,
but if there's a minute (or, infinite) delay,
you won't notice something has happened until later (could be much later).
You prefer this option.

So the issue here is not about the lag, which can happen
any time, anywhere, beyond the control of any client
Tygem or otherwise, but people's preferences for the UI.

Another approach, which I have never seen but maybe someone has already done it:
show the move immediately on the client side, and simultaneously show the server response; and if there is any lag at all, show the lag in real time.
So if the client does not receive a server response,
then start a stopwatch and display the lag, in real time.
If/when the client finally gets the server response,
then close and reset the stopwatch.
This seems to get the best of both worlds.