Frameworks, Architecture and more

[Thudilie]

Hey, guys, today's meeting raises the following questions about implementation:

Do you want :

• everything behind a framework like for example rails?
• or keep frontend and api separate from each other?

@hendrikb, @doggygit , @Garllon , @omarsotillo :D

[Thudilie]

write down your opinion and what you would like to use.

My suggestion: NodeJS application with react and express backend :P

discussionsopen

[hendrikb]

If we used React with React Native as add-on we'd have the ability to "compile" native IOS apps + Android apps + HTML mobile websites. React+Redux also covers states so we can make auth & things happen. :)

Interesting links here:

• https://github.com/enaqx/awesome-react
• https://reactjs.org/
• https://reactnative.dev/

[hendrikb]

I'm totally open to any sort of API-based backends. I have no clue what to use, though.

Idealy we should of course aim for something that provides some sort of bindings to some whatever-we-use-as-fronend-framework (e.g. react), so we can automate most of the code-generation. @omarsotillo - I assume you already have worked with stuff like this?

[omarsotillo]

Hey! 👋🏻 Sorry for not catching until today.

👍

• I like the idea of having frontend + backend separated. It would allow to more freedom of devs
• I think is cool the idea of Android apps
• Having a mindset of learning! 📚

🤔

• What should we focus our effort -> PWA or a native application? react-native is focused on native apps so at the end the work done there will imply extra work on the website. For that, I created the following issue: #4
• Backend, we should probably go for something lean and small framework which could allow doing things fast. I already heard from @Thudilie express.js as an idea which could allow us to have her on the backend side 🚀 but I am unsure how happy is everyone about javascript idea 🗡️ I like it :)

✍️

• Infrastructure wise we did not say something.

  • In the frontend part, we have the possibility of having or using Vercel.com. I have several websites hosted on then (free) and is crazy fast to deploy.

  • Backend we should think about the technology and what we need. I found droplets of digital-ocean always the fastest approach https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/ @hendrikb maybe you can help here

[doggygit]

In general I am open to lean new stuff. I could just write down what I already know quite well.

Frontend: Vue and Angular Backend: Rails, Sinatra and Flask

But React Native makes me curious right now, So I would vote for React Native. Backend wise I am still undecided.

[hendrikb]

In general I am open to lean new stuff. I could just write down what I already know quite well. ... But React Native makes me curious right now, So I would vote for React Native. Backend wise I am still undecided.

@doggygit - thanks for the input, can you go forward and discuss your framework wishes in #4 ? I think it makes sense to not have double work for native Apps PLUS mobile website right now - but probably later as a potential extension point for the project after the hackathon.

I am fine with looking into nodejs based frameworks. We should, though, aim for a framework that has either all batteries included or has a vast ecosystem attached to it so that we can make use of as many components as possible that we'll probably need. I am thinking about Auth, persistence, maybe even "some sort of binding" or code-generation towards our frontend project? @omarsotillo @Thudilie - is express.js the optimal choice there? Will we have technology "on top of that", like TypeScript or CoffeeScript or what not...?

I must say that I am aming to write as few code as possible - most things should come out of a box and I only want to glue things together and make minor customizations.

[hendrikb]

• Infrastructure wise we did not say something.

  • In the frontend part, we have the possibility of having or using Vercel.com. I have several websites hosted on then (free) and is crazy fast to deploy.
  • Backend we should think about the technology and what we need. I found droplets of digital-ocean always the fastest approach https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/ @hendrikb maybe you can help here

Thanks for your input @omarsotillo - I invite everybody to discuss our deployment/hosting options at https://github.com/TheRealWolkenbruch/concept/issues/5.

[Thudilie]

@hendrikb i guess there is no need of typescript or coffescript by using express.js. In nodejs you just need to install express package, maybe some packages for db connections, and some parser, then we are ready to code.

[hendrikb]

hey @Thudilie - for me the question is: Does adding things like TypeScript or CoffeeScript on top of express.js allow me to write less, but more structured & lean code compared to the plain Javascript that express.js wants to have? Or is it adding too much complexity, since I have to adopt the "Typescript way of thinking" to achieve something that's documented in Javascript only?

[Thudilie]

@hendrikb -> In my opinion Javascript covers many possibilities to write less code. (arrow function, async await, matching pattern). Since nodjeJS is used, we only need to add a babel compiler (install babel packages and add .babelrc file to the directory) to make the newset js version work. Therefore no CoffeScript is needed. As I saw on https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/typescript-in-5-minutes.html -> typeScript makes the application more secure, but adds a lot of code. I mean, the first step is to make sure it works properly, right? Maybe @doggygit has another opinion.

[hendrikb]

After our discussions:

• React it is - we expect not much needed in addition to that.
• Roda it is for the backend
• Persistence: Sequel with SQLite as development DB
• Worker / Dispatcher to send emails: For this MVP we're explicitly deciding send all emails sync and not async through a Queue - we're scheduling through cron. somehow.