Progressive API Responses

A method performed by client software of a social messaging platform running on a user device, the method comprising:

• sending a content request to a server comprising one or more computers and one or more storage devices, the server configured to implement the social messaging platform;
• receiving a response to the content request from the server incrementally in multiple fragments from a transport layer of a network stack on the user device, wherein the multiple fragments constitute the entire response, wherein the response includes content items and metadata describing the content items, and wherein each content item is renderable and defined by one or more data objects;
• incrementally rendering, into a display buffer, the content items in the fragments as the fragments are received, including placing the content items in the display buffer in an order determined by the metadata, the display buffer being a data structure in a memory of the user device;
• and
• displaying all or a part of the display buffer on a display of the user device.

One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media storing instructions that are operable, when executed by one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

• sending a content request to a server comprising one or more computers and one or more storage devices, the server configured to implement a social messaging platform;
• receiving a response to the content request from the server incrementally in multiple fragments from a transport layer of a network stack on the one or more computers, wherein the multiple fragments constitute the entire response, wherein the response includes content items and metadata describing the content items, and wherein each content item is renderable and defined by one or more data objects;
• incrementally rendering, into a display buffer, the content items in the fragments as the fragments are received, including placing the content items in the display buffer in an order determined by the metadata, the display buffer being a data structure in a memory of the one or more computers;
• and
• displaying all or a part of the display buffer on a display of the one or more computers.

A system comprising:

• one or more computers and one or more storage devices configured to implement a social messaging platform, the one or more storage devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
• receiving a content request from client software of the social messaging platform, the client software running on a user device;
• obtaining (i) content items corresponding to the content request, (ii) metadata describing the content items, and (iii) data necessary to render the content items, wherein the metadata describing the content items includes, for each content item, a sequence identifier that specifies a location in a display buffer of the user device where the content item should be rendered relative to other content items;
• generating a response to the content request, including:
• placing the metadata in an initial fragment of the response, and
• placing the data necessary to render each content item in one or more data objects defining the content item or in one or more data objects defining a content item that precedes the content item in the response;
• and
• sending the response to the client software.