Different socket.io vs APE:
- socket.io is coded in javascript(node.js) while APE is coded in C. I believe that is a big difference when you want to contribute. Maybe because you like the project or maybe because you want some more functionality. I think it will be easier to contribute Socket.io because you program Javascript, which is easier to grasp according to a lot of people(I Agree, although C is also very cool language).
- I believe socket.io supports a lot more browsers/transport compared to APE, but I am not sure. Socket.io information vs information from APE page:
APE Server is an Comet server
implementing the POST and GET methods
of the HTTP protocol. It does not
replace a regular Web Server (such as
Apache, Lighttpd or Nginx), however,
the APE Server is only used for AJAX
Push.
So I guess APE supports less transports then socket.io.
Like Raynos said it is difficult to compare those two products and I believe you should play with them both and then decide which one you like more.
Same Socket.io/APE:
- You can both code in Javascript to communicate with the server. I think you will have more freedom using socket.io because everything is exposed via Javascript.
Experience:
I only have experience with socket.io and I like it a lot.