Twitter API: REST and Streaming, what's the difference?

Question

Could anyone please summarize the differences between Twitter's REST API and its Streaming API?

And does either of them uses Push technology?

Answer 1

The REST API lets you query or modify a user's account. You don't need their permission to query their account, you do need it to modify their account. They provide permission through OAuth authentication.

The streaming API delivers tweets based on search terms or for specific users you request, along with info about the author, in real-time. You do not need the tweet author's permission. You must log into some Twitter account to use streaming, using either basic or OAuth authentication.

Neither uses push, but streaming is a continuous net connection, so it is real-time delivery, making it functionally similar to push.

Answer 2

For anybody coming to this more recently, The REST API (v1.0) has now been retired with v1.1 being the only version. This Does now require authentication for everything, including reads.

Authentication required on all endpoints

In version 1.1, we're requiring applications to authenticate all of their requests with OAuth 1.0a or Application-only authentication. Not only will this visibility allow us to prevent abusive behavior, but it will also help us to further understand how categories of applications are using the API. We'll apply that understanding to better meet the needs of developers as we continue to evolve the platform. At this time, all authentication requires user context, but in the coming weeks we'll be pushing out support for a form of authentication not requiring a user context.