Which protocol is often used for real-time messaging in integrations?

MQTT, or Message Queuing Telemetry Transport, is designed specifically for low-bandwidth, high-latency, or unreliable networks, which makes it highly suitable for real-time messaging in integrations. It operates on a publish-subscribe model, allowing for efficient communication between devices by minimizing the amount of data sent over the network. This is particularly advantageous in IoT (Internet of Things) scenarios where many devices need to exchange messages swiftly and with minimal overhead.

Other protocols have different primary uses; for instance, HTTP is mainly used for standard web communication and does not inherently support real-time messaging due to its request-response nature. FTP is focused on file transfer rather than messaging and lacks the real-time capabilities necessary for immediate data exchange. SOAP, while useful for exchanging structured information and supporting web services, typically involves more overhead and is not optimized for the near-instantaneous communication that MQTT facilitates. Thus, MQTT stands out as the preferred choice for real-time messaging in integration scenarios.