There is no test etherpad on their page where you can actually test it on a document with others editing simultaneously, so I created one for HN:
http://etherpad.com/a4jtHYAoF9
Just join in and try it!
Etherpad Shows Google Docs How It’s Done (By AppJet)
11–20 of 71 posts
Re: Etherpad Shows Google Docs How It’s Done (By AppJet)
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. Etherpad is sending a new POST request pretty much every keypress. Considering the HTTP headers and cookies, that's around 500-1k of data per letter typed. At google docs volume that would be a lot. (Total data sent when I press 'j' was 1073 bytes of HTTP headers, and 123 bytes of program data). The other reason may be that whilst it looks really cool to see each other typing, is it really needed? Does look q…
Well that's a stupid way to handle it... keep the socket open... read about Comet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_ (programming)
Are you being sarcastic?
Does anyone know what comet is? Please explain exactly how you can SEND multiple packets over time from browser to server without sending more HTTP requests, and without using any java applet/flash.
It's a shame people seem to have started saying "use comet" without understanding what it means. Did you read that link?
Re: Etherpad Shows Google Docs How It’s Done (By AppJet)
#13[deleted]
Re: Etherpad Shows Google Docs How It’s Done (By AppJet)
#14Maybe this will change how people code. Instead of programmers hanging out in IRC, they can hang out in the code and fix things instead of just complaining :-)
Re: Etherpad Shows Google Docs How It’s Done (By AppJet)
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well that's a stupid way to handle it... keep the socket open... read about Comet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_ (programming)
Are you being sarcastic? Does anyone know what comet is? Please explain exactly how you can SEND multiple packets over time from browser to server without sending more HTTP requests, and without using any java applet/flash. It's a shame people seem to have started saying "use comet" without understanding what it means. Did you read that link?
Connection: Keep-Alive
Re: Etherpad Shows Google Docs How It’s Done (By AppJet)
#16"Changes are made in absolute real time, something even Google hasn’t been able to do (Google docs update every fifteen seconds)." To imply that Google 'hasn't been able to do it' is kind of silly. It's more likely that they chose not to do it and/or their scaling requirements made it impractical.
It's not Google's scaling requirements that limit their simultaneity (or, obviously, a deliberate choice). Google Docs uses a different architecture, where a master copy of the document is kept on the server and broadcast every n seconds to all the clients. This is easier to implement, but can't be made fast enough to feel realtime.
Etherpad uses a different approach: they ship all the edits to all the users as soon as they happen, and each client processes them to produce an updated document. The hard part is making sure each user is seeing the same thing. This is easy with the Google Docs model where a single master copy is regularly rebroadcast. To do it the Etherpad way, without a master copy, is extremely hard. From what I've heard about what they had to do, it sounds like one of the more impressive hacking achievements by a YC-funded co to date.
Re: Etherpad Shows Google Docs How It’s Done (By AppJet)
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you being sarcastic? Does anyone know what comet is? Please explain exactly how you can SEND multiple packets over time from browser to server without sending more HTTP requests, and without using any java applet/flash. It's a shame people seem to have started saying "use comet" without understanding what it means. Did you read that link?
Connection: Keep-Alive
Without any java applets or flash?
Re: Etherpad Shows Google Docs How It’s Done (By AppJet)
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you being sarcastic? Does anyone know what comet is? Please explain exactly how you can SEND multiple packets over time from browser to server without sending more HTTP requests, and without using any java applet/flash. It's a shame people seem to have started saying "use comet" without understanding what it means. Did you read that link?
Connection: Keep-Alive
Yes, you can specify keep-alive (Although some browsers refuse to do it in an XHR - Opera for one).
However, you still send the full glut of HTTP headers every single request.
Re: Etherpad Shows Google Docs How It’s Done (By AppJet)
#19This seems like SubEthaEdit but for the web. Maybe it was the barrier to entry or the technical wrangling to get it working that killed SEE; But even among Mac-heads I haven't seen it being used in years.
I'm not sure how much this will fly.
Re: Etherpad Shows Google Docs How It’s Done (By AppJet)
#20Interesting app; it looks like it has a lot of potential.
On an unrelated note, something about Arrigton's journalism just bothers me. It's like every title has to involve some tired old cliché or unsubstantiated, conflicting statements.