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Introducing Firebase Hosting

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Re: Introducing Firebase Hosting

#51
I've built some client / server syncing code for a while, and never wondered to check for papers on that subject ( since i did it in a wqy specific to my model each time). What those guys are doing seem quite generic. Are there any famous algorithms for multi end-point data syncing ?

I suppose it's related to the ditributed database research field...

Re: Introducing Firebase Hosting

#52
post #51

I've built some client / server syncing code for a while, and never wondered to check for papers on that subject ( since i did it in a wqy specific to my model each time). What those guys are doing seem quite generic. Are there any famous algorithms for multi end-point data syncing ? I suppose it's related to the ditributed database research field...

Paxos is a good place to start, as it's well-regarded and fairly accessible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paxos_%28computer_science%29

Re: Introducing Firebase Hosting

#53
post #52
post #51

I've built some client / server syncing code for a while, and never wondered to check for papers on that subject ( since i did it in a wqy specific to my model each time). What those guys are doing seem quite generic. Are there any famous algorithms for multi end-point data syncing ? I suppose it's related to the ditributed database research field...

Paxos is a good place to start, as it's well-regarded and fairly accessible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paxos_%28computer_science%29

Thanks, i already knew about this one. I was looking to something more specific to single server / multiple clients that need to sync. It seems a bit different to the type of algorithm used when trying to reach a concensus between multiple servers upon a read request ( or is it ?)

Edit : when i said related to ditributed database, i related more to things like log shipping.

Re: Introducing Firebase Hosting

#54
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used both Parse and Firebase extensively and I love them both. Parse is far more mature. Not only has it been around for longer but it's owned by Facebook so it has the resources to continue adding amazing stuff, like Cloud Code. Cloud Code is a huge differentiator in my opinion because it takes care of the last mile for BAAS' (back-end(s) as a service) - custom server-side data validation and manipulation. Howe…

Firebase may not have Cloud Code, but since you have use their npm module and deploy to a free hosting service like Heroku, I actually think its more powerful. The big win: once you are in a full node.js environment you can leverage the power of all the npm modules. Parse's Cloud Code is very isolated from the entire ecosystem.

I don't think Heroku free tier is a production ready solution.

Re: Introducing Firebase Hosting

#56

Hi HN, I'm the lead developer on Firebase Hosting and the post’s author. We're trying to build something that's both simple to use and a serious production grade product. We think we're pretty close to the mark but we'd love to hear how we can improve it. Let us know in the comments (or email me at chris@firebase.com).

While this isn't specific to hosting, one glaring thing that I've noticed in the documentation / tutorials is there are no clear instructions on how to retrieve data. In the Getting Started link at the top of your site, theres a section that says 'Save Data', but nothing for 'Retrieve Data'. And the documentation isn't any clearer.

Re: Introducing Firebase Hosting

#57
post #51

I've built some client / server syncing code for a while, and never wondered to check for papers on that subject ( since i did it in a wqy specific to my model each time). What those guys are doing seem quite generic. Are there any famous algorithms for multi end-point data syncing ? I suppose it's related to the ditributed database research field...

Most real-time frameworks like Wave and Derby use Operational Transformation. http://www.waveprotocol.org/whitepapers/operational-transfor... http://blog.derbyjs.com/2013/06/04/derby-v0-dot-5-0/

(Edit: Apparently Meteor does not use OT; yet another reason it's behind Derby.)

Re: Introducing Firebase Hosting

#58
post #56

Hi HN, I'm the lead developer on Firebase Hosting and the post’s author. We're trying to build something that's both simple to use and a serious production grade product. We think we're pretty close to the mark but we'd love to hear how we can improve it. Let us know in the comments (or email me at chris@firebase.com).

While this isn't specific to hosting, one glaring thing that I've noticed in the documentation / tutorials is there are no clear instructions on how to retrieve data. In the Getting Started link at the top of your site, theres a section that says 'Save Data', but nothing for 'Retrieve Data'. And the documentation isn't any clearer.

Take a look at the "Reading Data From Firebase" doc (https://www.firebase.com/docs/reading-data.html). If you've got some feedback on it or think it isn't clear enough, I'd be happy to chat with you and see how we can improve the docs.

Re: Introducing Firebase Hosting

#59

This is great. I am using Firebase for my app https://remoteinterview.io . And yes my current build/deploy system is a bit long due to FTP. Will try this out.

This is unrelated to the parent topic, but I like your app! I was planning on designing something similar for an upcoming hackathon, but it definitely would not have been as good as what you already have.

Thank you :) Yes it has grown out of hackathon size hack now. But we built the initial prototype within a weekend. Firebase really helped in speeding up things.

Re: Introducing Firebase Hosting

#60
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While this isn't specific to hosting, one glaring thing that I've noticed in the documentation / tutorials is there are no clear instructions on how to retrieve data. In the Getting Started link at the top of your site, theres a section that says 'Save Data', but nothing for 'Retrieve Data'. And the documentation isn't any clearer.

Take a look at the "Reading Data From Firebase" doc ( https://www.firebase.com/docs/reading-data.html ). If you've got some feedback on it or think it isn't clear enough, I'd be happy to chat with you and see how we can improve the docs.

Thanks for the response. I have, and its simple enough from the perspective of a developer that has been in the field for a little while, but since these services are getting more and more popular it seems like striving for absolute clarity might pay off in the long run.

For example,

1. Its not totally clear that the url that you are supposed to use is the url that is generated when you create a new app and land inside of Forge.

2. Its also not totally clear that in retrieving data you're supposed to follow the structure of you JSON schema. A simple note along the lines of "If you would like the retrieve the third index in your array, its as simple as creating a new Firebase instance and passing in 'mydata.firebaseio.com/3' as the url.

3. Like I mentioned in my first comment, it would be good if you had a 'Retrieve Data' bullet point on your getting started page. For users who simply want to import JSON into Forge to display in their app via retrieval, a two line note and example along the lines of

Retrieve Data

user = new Firebase('mydata.firebaseio.com/users/3')

user.once (userData) ->

   console.log userData.val() # Should return Kim Gordon
would help.

There are little things (and I emphasize little here) scattered throughout which would lead less experienced devs into a bit of confusion when first getting started.

If I'm being overly cautious here please disregard, but it did hang me up when I first started playing around with the system.

Either way, totally love the hosting and super psyched to dive deeper into the platform!

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