Short Polling
In plain terms
Repeatedly asking the server for updates at intervals.
Going deeper
Short polling has the client request data on a fixed schedule, simple but wasteful since most requests return nothing new. It checks again and again.
Under the hood
Easy to implement but inefficient and high-latency; superseded by SSE/websockets for real-time.
Examples
Simple status checks, polling APIs, legacy real-time, inefficient updates.
Think of it like...
Like repeatedly checking the mailbox every few minutes whether or not mail arrived.