Comparison To HTTP
OBEX is similar in design and function to HTTP in providing the client with a reliable transport for connecting to a server and may then request or provide objects. But OBEX differs in many important respects:
- HTTP is normally layered above a TCP/IP link. OBEX is commonly implemented on an IrLAP/IrLMP/Tiny TP stack on an IrDA device. In Bluetooth, OBEX is implemented on a Baseband/ACL/L2CAP/RFCOMM stack. Other such "bindings" of OBEX are possible.
- HTTP uses human-readable text, but OBEX uses binary-formatted type-length-value triplets named "Headers" to exchange information about a request or an object. These are much easier to parse by resource-limited devices.
- HTTP transactions are inherently stateless; generally a HTTP client opens a connection, makes a single request, receives its response, and either closes the connection or makes other unrelated requests. In OBEX, a single transport connection may bear many related operations. In fact, recent additions to the OBEX specification allow an abruptly closed transaction to be resumed with all state information intact.
Read more about this topic: OBject EXchange
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