# Query vs Signal

**URL:** <https://community.temporal.io/t/query-vs-signal/1340>\
**Category:** Community Support\
**Created:** [January 20, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://community.temporal.io/t/query-vs-signal/1340 "2021-01-20T20:52:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sairam](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.temporal.io/sairam/32/661_2.png) [@sairam](https://community.temporal.io/u/sairam)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://community.temporal.io/t/query-vs-signal/1340/1 "2021-01-20T20:52:16Z")

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what’s the recommended approach to know the status of a child workflow and keep track of that in the parent workflow and possibly mutate the state on the parent side as child activities are completed. ?

– Query the state of the child workflow in a loop on the parent workflow side ?  
– Receive signal from child workflow as the activity completes and process that signal on the parent side ?

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**Author:** ![maxim](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.temporal.io/maxim/32/8_2.png) [@maxim](https://community.temporal.io/u/maxim)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://community.temporal.io/t/query-vs-signal/1340/2 "2021-01-20T20:56:11Z")

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I would recommend “Receive signal from child workflow as the activity completes and process that signal on the parent side ?” as would lead to lower latency and doesn’t put additional load on the system due to polling.