In my free time, I'm currently working on a web app written with Rails, and planning on writing "thick" clients for the desktop and various mobile platforms (who doesn't ?).
I like the concept of Thrift for its multi-language support, and the concept of having one IDL file generating appropriate code for clients (DRY !)
I was wondering what would be the best way / architecture to integrate the Thrift server and Rails.
The only options that come to mind seems sup-optimal :
call the wepapp APIs from the Thrift server to return data to the thick clients
plug the thrift server to the DB of the Rails app and do its thing.
For obvious reasons, this seems overkill, redundant and not flexible.
Any suggestion ?
thanks !
I'm not sure if its overkill :) But I suggest if you want to explore this topic even more that you also look into this thread.
Related
I am trying to develop an iOS application that stores and loads data to and from a server. The data needs of the client can be pretty much narrowed down to REST. MY question is, is REST something widely used for data/server driven iOS applications? is there a paradigm proven better or more suitable for iOS apps?
if REST is the way to go, what server environment would you choose? what server side Technology? PHP? Java? something else? We'd set up a test/dev environment at first, but eventually we are going to deploy on services like Amazon cloud or any other hosting/cloud service.
Any insight will be most welcome.
So are you writing the backend too?
Most projects that I've worked with in the past few years use REST. It's made little difference in the implementation of the iOS app (I think...). I'm more concerned about the type of data I'm consuming, which is usually JSON - and ensuring that it is as lean as possible. People writing web services should be concerned about REST.
I've also worked with projects this year that use different technologies on the backend. Java on one, and Ruby on Rails on the other.
I know another guy who uses PHP on one project, and Ruby on another.
If I was to do a backend, I'd probably use Java - solely because I know it. Not the best excuse to pick a technology - but as a full time iOS developer, I don't have time to learn something new that I won't use very often.
If you are going to deploy on a cloud based service, see what technologies they support. Maybe picking the common denominator would be a wise choice to keep your options open. Some languages tend to have more expensive server hosting costs. Java is usually more expensive than PHP to host, I guess due to the complexities of running shared java VM's instead of PHP interpreter.
Up to now I've always used PHP with or without a framework but a month ago I decided to start something new: Ruby and Rails, I found them quite easy and similar to PHP and some PHP frameworks in how they works but using a simpler syntax and many other advantages.
Some days ago I started reading about Node.js, Node.js vs Rails, "why node.js is better"...
I'm a bit confused but my objective is to learn something modern that will not become obsolete in a few months so:
What are the main differences between Rails/Ruby and Node.js and a framework based on it like Express.js (except that one is written in JS and the other in Ruby)?
What are the main advantages/disadvantages of using Node.js and framework based on it instead of a Ruby based solution like Rails?
Thanks!
There aren't enough differences between Node.js and Rails for it to practically matter.
A lot of what Node.js can do can be pulled off in Rails with things like EventMachine and Pusher. So unless you are really familiar with Rails' limitations, and know you'll be pushing the boundaries, you'd be hard pressed to make something a seasoned Rails developer couldn't do.
Having built apps in Node and Express I can say that they alone aren't enough to make a sexy application. They can seem just as old and stale if you don't have an outstanding frontend UI to facilitate the backend possibilities. Instead of comparing backend servers, I think the real future of doing amazing things is in front-end JavaScript frameworks like Backbone.js that use Express/Rails/Node.js on the backend.
I have chosen to go in the direction of Backbone.js with Rails as my backend API server. Because it's so easy to rapidly create a very nice RESTful backend server in Rails. Rails also makes working with CoffeeScript and precompiling/organizing Backbone code a breeze. There are already decent Backbone.js gems out there for Rails.
The Rails core is also able to acknowledge and embrace the fact that frontend JS MVCs are logically a good next step, and they have been working to strengthen the bond between the two. For those same reasons they have also worked to make Rails an even better API server so that it can work with frontend JS easier. Node.js and Express aren't putting as much effort to coordinate with frontend JavaScript MVCs as the Rails community is.
Being good with a JavaScript frontend MVC and Rails as a backend makes you also great for both worlds in terms of getting a job. You will easily be able to hop onto a Node.js project and add value to that team with your superior frontend experience, and you can also roll with the punches on a Ruby on Rails team and add value to them as well.
As official Node.js website explains it:
Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications. Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient, perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.
On the other hand Ruby on Rails official website says:
Ruby on Rails is an open-source web framework that's optimized for programmer happiness and sustainable productivity. It lets you write beautiful code by favoring convention over configuration.
Given this I guess that it is more appropriate to compare Ruby and Node.js, but even this is not quite right given that Ruby is programming language and Node.js is NOT. You could probably compare JavaScript with Ruby but I guess that is not what you meant to ask with this question :)
So, for me, key point in understanding what Node.js truly tries to accomplish is well described on Node.js about page. Key Node.js idea (for me) is described in this sentences:
Node is similar in design to and influenced by systems like Ruby's Event Machine or Python's Twisted. Node takes the event model a bit further—it presents the event loop as a language construct instead of as a library. In other systems there is always a blocking call to start the event-loop. Typically one defines behavior through callbacks at the beginning of a script and at the end starts a server through a blocking call like EventMachine::run(). In Node there is no such start-the-event-loop call. Node simply enters the event loop after executing the input script. Node exits the event loop when there are no more callbacks to perform. This behavior is like browser javascript—the event loop is hidden from the user.
What this should enable you, is that you should be able to easily write highly concurrent programs without even thinking about concurrency using JavaScript syntax and callback functions as basic concurrent runnable units.
Your fear that either Rails or Node.js will be gone in a week is unfounded. Rails has a large community and will be around for a very long time even though currently (early 2012) it's getting a bit of hate thrown its way. Node.js is just getting started and has so much attention I don't think it will have any problems getting to the Rails level some day.
That said I've been evaluating Node.js and Rails as options for a project and the reasons I choose Node.js over Rails are:
"The Rails Way" - In my (admittedly limited) experience with Rails it really seems like you either do it the Rails way or you are going to be in for a world of pain. A big part of the Rails way is to use the ActiveRecord model. The advantage of this is that there are a lot of gems that work with your code happily because they know you'll be using ActiveRecord. The disadvantage is you are mixing your data access & model. I am not a fan of this idea so the Rails way for me still seems a bit.. off.
JavaScript is a key part of client side web development and the idea of using it on the client and server is interesting. I'm not super strong at JavaScript and I can't imagine a better way to get better then to have to use it everywhere.
My project has real time communication needs which while I'm sure can be done in Rails there seems to be quite a bit of positive mention on Nodes ability to handle this with socket.io being the front runner option.
At the end of the day no matter which you choose you will have a great time & learn a ton of new stuff that will change how you write code. If you're not on a big time crunch I'd recommend building a small project management tool in both and see which you prefer.
Either way.. Good Luck!
2 things - performance & productivity.
Performance (more details here)
(source: jslang.info)
Productivity (how fast you can build that app)
Ruby on Rails is specialized and highly productive tool for creating so called Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 applications (99% of internet sites are such apps). In my subjective judgement and experience in this area Rails about 2-4 times more productive than node.js or express.js.
For Web 3.0 apps (realtime things, client-side MVC, etc.) this isn't true, RoR doesn't keep its advantage there.
So choice depends on use case and priorities.
I know a lot more about Node.js than I do about Ruby. That being said, Ruby is much more widely adopted. It is currently a very hot skill to have in the work place. Some may argue with me on this but I think that Node.js is still "under development" and will be for a little bit longer. It has a lot of promise but just hasn't been adopted by many companies and projects yet.
This question already has answers here:
Closed 11 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
Could node.js replace Ruby on Rails completely in the future?
I'm doing bad in understanding the sense of node.js. I understand what it does regarding IO etc., but is it for example a Ruby on Rails replacement? Can I do the same database operations etc.? What about authentication?
what kind of web or other applications get build on basis of node.js?
is it for example a ruby on rails replacement?
IMHO RoR has much longer history/experience/functionality for website development. Node.js itself is a lightweight (low level) framework from which you can take off to build various types of server-side applications (not just web oriented). One of its main advantages is in wide spectrum of modules provided by community of open source developers.
Can i do the same database operations etc.?
Yes, just find the right module for your type of database.
What about authentication?
Modules like connect offers built-in authentication functionality.
Node.js is a totally separate technology to Ruby on Rails, built on a different technology stack. In its current state it's not a replacement for Rails, and certainly not a drop-in replacement
AIUI Node.js is a bit more low-level than that, in particular it has no support for typical high level web development (MVC model, db integration, etc). Look at it as a javascripty basis to write networking software on (including web frameworks).
There are some web frameworks out there built on Node.js. The only one I know is geddy.
Node.JS is to Javascript as EventMachine is to Ruby (and Twisted to Python). It's something completely different from Rails.
To illustrate: the Thin webserver that is often used to serve Rails application was built using EventMachine. So you would need a complete web framework on top of Node.JS to make it a Rails replacement.
You are comparing apples and pears.
Ruby on Rails is a MVC Framework to build websites.
Nodejs is a framework to build evented I/O operations.
You can build a port of RoR on top of nodejs if you want.
Background: I have a java library that is accessed by many developers - usually via java. However, a few devs hope to access this via a Ruby API. I am gravitating in the direction of Jruby in order to implement a Java-Ruby API.
Questions:
My main concern is that these developers will not be able to utilize the API in their current, Ruby on Rails development framework; but instead will have to operate within Jruby's rails environment. Is this going to be the case?
Perhaps I'm missing a connection between Jruby and Ruby on Rails. But it seems that you can either work in Rails, or work in Jruby's rails - are these technically two different development environments?
I would really appreciate any light someone could shed on this..
Edit: Forcing developers (actually clients to be more specific) to make large changes to their projects in order to accomodate for this API is not really an option. So, if their Rails apps would have to be converted to Jruby on Rails apps, then perhaps someone could offer yet another alternative for me (other than Jruby)?
First, I should mention that Ruby on Rails is simply Ruby code, and the same code can run in the JRuby environment (on the JVM) or the MRI (written in C) runtime.
However, only JRuby can load Java classes and use a Java API. Asking your clients to switch their deployment environment to JRuby may not be feasible, but if you can set up a service in Java that speaks XML or JSON then they will be able to easily use it from Rails.
You might find the answers to a similar question helpful. Depending on your application it may be possible to seamlessly port your RoR app to run on JRuby subject to the caveats noted in that answer. But you'd want to be sure that the benefits of doing so balanced the effort and potential risks.
Alternatively you might consider making these Java library facilities available to your MRI Rails app as an internal web service (which could be Rails or Sinatra or similar) built on JRuby. That's way you would decouple the elements and de-risk the project. If you subsequently were comfortable with that working you might then consider collapsing them back together, all under JRuby-on-Rails if that made sense.
UPDATE: Adding more detail at questioners request
As I'm not familiar with what your application or Java libraries do this will be somewhat abstract but I trust you can fill in the blanks to suit your needs.
It seems that full porting of your Rails apps to run on Jruby is not feasible. Fine. So one idea would be to expose your Java library as a web service (e.g. RESTful) to your RoR application. Let's call this thing JLS. In this case it would run as a Java or Jruby network service, listening for requests, call into the library and send back responses (general waving of hands here but you get the idea).
Depending on what your developers are more comfortable with you can create JLS in Java running a Servlet container maybe. Or you could develop JLS in Ruby, running on Jruby (binding to your Java library) and use a framework like Rails or Sinatra to implement it.
On the RoR side, assuming you've made JLS RESTful (and I don't know if that's even appropriate in your case), you can use the ActiveResource facility for communicating with JLS.
In summary the RoR app and JLS run in separate memory spaces (maybe even different hosts). Each can be developed somewhat independently (with RESTful interface agreement of course) and your RoR app does not need to be disrupted or put at risk.
This suggested option comes with tons of small print but I hope you get the general idea.
I am a newbie to Erlang and am trying to make a switch to Erlang for our latest project. Since this is going to be a real-time chat (long polled) system for file sharing on the fly, I realized after a bit of digging around that Erlang would be the most appropriate choice, because of high concurrency, plus people also suggested to use Yaws since it can handle upto 50k parallel connections.
Although, it sounds awesome, but since I am a newbie (both to erlang and comet applications), I am unable to understand the right technology stack / architecture of how this would work. Also, because of relatively less documentation, I am unable to figure out how the individual pieces would fit together (web server, application layer, DB, message queue) for such an application. The application is going to run off a desktop client only (no web presence required), and so we need to build a REST api for the functionalities.
It would be great, if someone could point me in the right direction to proceed.
Thanks
Nitrogen has a very slick Comet feature built-in. It will work with the three most popular Erlang web servers, including the one you're already considering, YAWS.
Nitrogen doesn't do anything in particular about data storage. It's not one of those web frameworks that insists on managing the DB for you. You're free to use Mnesia or whatever else you like. If this bothers you, you might consider Erlyweb instead. It doesn't do Comet for you like Nitrogen does, but it's more of the manage-everything-for-me sort of web framework.
You could use:
ejabberd as the XMPP server
mnesia as the database
YAWS as the WEB server
Message Queue : you can implement that in Erlang or use an enterprise solution such as RabbitMQ
The all new Zotonic application may inspire you. It's a webapp running off mochiweb for HTTP service with webmachine for the REST API. And it's using good ol' PostgreSQL as database.
It has comet support implemented.