computer science

Simple Update Protocol

Simple Update Protocol is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Simple Update Protocol rather than just read about it. In short: Simple Update Protocol, or SUP, is a protocol developed by FriendFeed to simplify and speed up RSS and Atom feed updates. Updates from services that supported the protocol would appear on FriendFeed within seconds, until support was dropped.

Key takeaways

Simple Update Protocol belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Simple Update Protocol to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Simple Update Protocol from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Simple Update Protocol, or SUP, is a protocol developed by FriendFeed to simplify and speed up RSS and Atom feed updates. Updates from services that supported the protocol would appear on FriendFeed within seconds, until support was dropped. These sites include Disqus, Identi.ca, reddit.

Functioning SUP introduces SUP feeds, which are lists of RSS and Atom feeds that have updated recently. A feed consumer (like FriendFeed, or a feedreader) can regularly poll a small number of SUP feeds instead of polling each individual feed. RSS and Atom feeds are identified in SUP feeds by an opaque, unique identifier derived from their URL. This allows a SUP feed to index private feeds without revealing their URL. SUP feeds are intended to be managed by services that publish large amounts of RSS and Atom feeds, though FriendFeed also hosted a public SUP feed which anyone could post updates to. The mechanism for posting updates to a public SUP feed is not standardised.

Past Support Brightkite supported SUP but was itself shutdown in April 2012. YouTube's API v2.0 supported SUP, but that version of the API was deprecated in 2014 and YouTube's SUP feed was eventually shut down. YouTube data API v3 supports PubSubHubbub instead.

References

External links Simple Update Protocol's Draft Specification

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Simple Update Protocol

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Simple Update Protocol claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Simple Update Protocol before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Simple Update Protocol ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Simple Update Protocol

In research: Simple Update Protocol appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Simple Update Protocol in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Simple Update Protocol is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Application layer protocols, Atom (web standard), Internet protocols, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Simple Update Protocol outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Simple Update Protocol in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Simple Update Protocol means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Simple Update Protocol out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Simple Update Protocol in simple terms?

Why does Simple Update Protocol matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Simple Update Protocol?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Simple Update Protocol.