Direct Answer
The choice of API protocol—REST, WebSocket, or Streaming—determines how quickly and reliably you receive market data. While REST is best for historical lookups and WebSockets are suitable for basic real-time updates, high-performance trading requires a dedicated streaming protocol (TCP/UDP) to handle high message volumes with minimal overhead.
| Protocol Type | Best Use Case | Latency Profile | Data Delivery |
| REST API | Historical data & lookups | High (HTTP overhead) | Request/Response (Pull) |
| WebSocket | Retail dashboards | Medium (Persistent TCP) | Real-time Push |
| Streaming (UDP/TCP) | Professional trading | Lowest potential latency | Continuous Stream |
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why is REST too slow for real-time trading? Each request requires a new handshake and heavy headers, adding significant delay to every message.
- When should I use WebSockets? They are ideal for web-based applications where you need real-time updates without the complexity of raw socket programming.
- What protocol does NxCore use? NxCore uses a high-performance binary stream delivered over TCP or UDP for maximum throughput.
Who This Is For (and Who It’s Not)
Who This Is For
- Developers choosing the right transport layer for a new trading application.
- Systems architects looking to move away from legacy API polling.
Who This Is NOT For
- Non-technical users who rely on pre-built trading software.
