最佳实践，如何使用jQuery创建一个简单的php聊天的ajax请求？

i have a simple chat and the way i do thinks now is like this:

function ajax() { 
    $.ajax({  
        url: '/chat/index/json',
        type: 'POST',
        dataType: "json",
        success: function(data) {   
           // output the html to my chat window
        }
    });
    window.setTimeout("ajax()",5000);
}


$(document).ready(function() {
    ajax();
    $('#chat').submit(function(e) { 
        e.preventDefault();
        sendMessage();
    });
});


function sendMessage()
{   
    // grab the values from text textarea
    $.ajax({
          url: '/chat/index/jsave',
          type: 'POST',
          dataType: "html",
          data: message,
          success: function(d) {  
              // empty the textarea 
              ajax(); 
          }
    });
}

i basically call the ajax(); function every 5 seconds. Im not sure if this is the best way to do this because i have a request to the server every 5 sec.

is there a better way of doing this?

thanks

First of all, try to use GET instead of POST. GET will work faster and as you don't send security protected data you can use it. If you have chat...you must have a request to server every n seconds.
Why GET method is faster than POST?