To build a real-time chat application, you have to think about implementing a real-time system which should be eligible for sending and receiving data. It will not be done just by a relational database and Ajax Calls. So here to make that possible and easy WebSocket and library socket.io is very essential to get your job done.

Let’s understand that basic technical stack of WebSockets and Sockets.io. WebSockets comes with many benefits and it can be used in different projects.

Learn why you should and how to use this advanced technology to build chat application development.

Want to create create chat application using node js?

 
» Know what is WebSocket Protocol, Node.js and Socket.io?

WebSocket is actually an internet communication protocol with a compatible and interesting feature: it offers a full-duplex channel over a single TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) connection.

Using WebSockets, a client and a server will with each other in real time, just like they were connected via telephone call. Once both are connected, a client will be able to receive data from the server, without refreshing the web page continuously. On the other hand, the server will also be able to receive data from the client inside in real time with the same connection.

» The Benefit of the WebSocket:

They are capable to work with an event-driven model: both the client and server can respond to events and messages. In recent times, WebSockets created a lot of good opportunities for web developers.

If you are wondering how to implement this excellent technology into Node.Js application, then the answer is Socket.io. It is most popular real-time engines for Node.Js.

What is Socket.io used For?

 
Socket.IO is used by many companies and developers today. Its notable users include Microsoft Office, Yammer, and Zendesk. It is used in building instant messaging applications, real-time analytics, monitoring and for streaming and document collaboration.

The experts say that “Socket.IO certainly uses WebSocket as a transport when possible [..] but a WebSocket client will not be able to connect to a Socket.IO server, and vice versa a Socket.IO client will not be able to connect to a WebSocket server”.

How Does Socket.IO Really Work In Building An App?

 
Socket.io has two parts – one is server part (for Node.JS) and second is clients part (for web browsers). They have similar APIs based on event-driven architecture. Socket.IO allows using extra features such as sending data to a large number of sockets at the same time (broadcasting) or storing the data.

The simplest way to describe how Socket.IO works is to explain it with the example. By composing just 22 lines of JavaScript code, developers can build a simple WebSockets-based chat. Below you will find both the server and the client part with comments.

» Node.Js:

Node.js is a Javascript back-end technology administered by the server as PHP, Ruby or Python. JavaScript uses events. Node.js holds this particularity so it becomes easy to make asynchronous code. Node.js has package manager: npm. It is easy to install, update, delete packages. Apart from that, there is a bunch of Nodejs benefits for enterprise web app development.

The Chat App: Understand Architecture of the Application

 
On the first point, you have to separate two parts in the chat application: the client part and the server part. you will have to build the two parts to make application up and running.

The server will be managed by node.js to make the launch the packages and the website. This code will invisible by the client. The client part will be loaded on the computer of the client. It will have direct access to the files (html/css and js).

» Server-side:

Socket.IO works by including event listeners to an instance of http.Server. To add Socket.IO support to a http.Server. You have to build the file app.js that will launch server and all the packages. Now you require to configure socket.io to be ready to jump into the WebSocket world.

io object will give you an access to the socket.io library. io object is now monitoring to each connection to the app. Each time when a new user is joining, it will print out “New user connected” in the console.

» Client-side:

The HTTP server will start to serve the client library at /socket.io/socket.io.js. To connect to Socket.IO server.

» Sending and Receiving Data:

Since both the server and client’s Socket object perform as EventEmitters, you can transmit and listen for events in a bi-directional way. Socket.IO has played an essential role in the popular adoption of Node.js by making WebSockets convenient and secure.

New Version expresses a significant step in its development and the extraction of Engine.IO has initiated some interesting possibilities for the Node.js ecosystem.

Conclusion

 
WebSockets is one of the most impressive support that was brought into the use with HTML5. It answers to a lot of queries that web application developers have struggled with before. WebSockets in joining with external libraries such as Socket.IO opens many possibilities. This definitely is a remarkable technology.

With above you learnt how to build a chat based app using Node.js and Socket.io. Without both node.js and Socket.io, building a chat based app is a difficult task. Therefore, if you are looking to build a chat based app then you must hire Node.js developers to fulfill your project requirement.

The post How to Build or Create a Chat Application using Node.js and Socket.Io? appeared first on Coruscate Solutions.

What is so special about Node.js that makes it one of the most used frameworks? Let’s go through the benefits and importance of the framework.

An Insight into Node.js Framework

The first notable characteristic of Node.js is the fact that it is an open-source and cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment. It runs on a V8 engine and helps with developing server-side applications. You can use the technology to run applications on all platforms including Windows, Linux, and OS X. As a result of the V8 machine, the codes are compiled in the runtime environment with greater agility.

Here we will further discuss the advantages of working with Node.js:

• Event Loop: The main advantage of using JavaScript-based Node.js is the event loop. What is this and how does it help you with high-performance application development? The event loop is basically a single thread, which allows easy execution of the I/O operations. In the past, the I/O operations would run synchronously or asynchronously using parallel threads, which led to higher consumption of the memory. With Node.js, an asynchronous task is sent to the event loop with a callback function, and this loop tends to execute the program. Once the event is completed, the loop returns to the task and executes the callback. The framework registers with the operating system to get notified whenever a connection is made. The scalability of this feature allows you to handle the number of event loops simultaneously
• Asynchronous I/O: There are a lot of common tasks related to web development, and it is important to automate their execution. This is possible as a result of asynchronous I/O, which is why it has been listed as one of the advantages. The framework can read/write streams to the WebSockets as well as HTTP. Basically, reading/writing to network connections, filesystems and databases is as easy with Node.js and helps with the faster execution of the code. This is why Node.js is majorly used by large companies with large volumes of data.
• The NPM Package Manager: Why is this an advantage, you may ask? For starters, the package manager is highly reliable and pretty fast in its work. When it comes to specifying the project dependencies as well as installing them, this package manager happens to be your best friend. The project dependencies are not really involved within the package manager, thus preventing the version conflict possibility.
• Fulfills the Real-time Multi-user Needs: When you are developing a web application, you need to cater to the real-time and multi-user needs posed by the enterprises. The WebSocket protocols can be used in order to include the multi-user requirements posed by applications, specifically the gaming applications. The web sockets can also improve the speed of communication, and ensure proper and immediate two-way communication.

Top Enterprises that Vouch for Node.js

• Netflix: One of the most popular applications in modern times, Netflix uses Node.js to process its data and stream the video content. The main reason why Netflix opted for Node.js is the number of unique packages it creates with every push cycle, which causes issues such as conditional dependencies and app scalability. The lightweight of the framework allowed the company to reduce over 70% in their startup time.
• Trello: The project management tool required a framework that would assist with the immediate update of the new work that required the application to hold new connections. This framework comes with an excellent prototyping tool along with the event-driven non-blocking server solution, which not only helps with real-time updates but also improves your speed of devising prototypes.
• Paypal: With Node.js, the company was able to build the frontend and backend for the application simultaneously, and unify the programs to build a classic and secure payment gateway. They were able to understand the problems for both ends, and derive absolute solutions.
• LinkedIn: The startup time posed a problem to the application, which allowed you to network with some of the big companies. By adopting Node.js at an early stage, they not only reduced the startup time effectively but also managed to accelerate the development speed.
• Walmart: Introducing new and sophisticated features is easier with Node.js by your side. The asynchronous I/O and single-threaded event loop help in managing the multiple requests efficiently.
• Uber: Uber is scaling and expanding. There is an Uber for everything, is what we can say in today’s time. considering the level of customers, the company handles, and the load it bears, it is important they have a framework that can properly execute its real-time and load requirements. With Node.js the company has skillfully scaled their abilities and app structure.

Our Unique Portfolio

 
Coruscate has been working with Node.js for a while now and has capably executed quite a number of applications in the process. For every difficult problem, we have come up with unique and differentiated solutions. Here’s a peek into our work that should tell you about our expertise.

1. Travel Industry Solution: Catterfly is an application based on Node.js that was specifically designed to help the company offer personalized solutions and good holiday experience. The solution designed included a pictoguide, offline sync, and a personal coach or counselor.
   The startup time and real-time updates were mandatory for the application as well as the scalability and other factors. The only possible solution was developing the application using the MEAN Stack.
2. CRM Solution: In an attempt to develop a CRM solution for the jewelry company, we developed an application using Node.js. With MEAN stack, we were able to induce real-time communication, and offer the customized solution for tracking conversations, emails and discussions, keeping them in a single location.
3. Loan Processing Solution: The Node.js based application we derived helped with easy loan processing and making it hassle-free.The complexity of the algorithm was processed and accelerated with a MEAN stack.

Summing up

Node.js is an excellent framework for accelerated application development. We have devised unique solutions for all complex problems. We have been working on making the framework efficient and useful for almost all applications that require real-time, server-side development.

If you want an application developed for your business, Get in touch with the expert node.js developers by filling up the inquiry form with the details. We will identify how to best utilize the MEAN stack for your requirements.

The post Node.js: Why it is Favorite Framework for Enterprise Web Application Development? appeared first on Coruscate Solutions.

Today, we will talk at length about which is better for your project- Node.js vs Python. We will compare the two, while considering important project parameters, in order to help you make a quick choice.

Node.js vs Python – Performance

When you are developing a project for your business, whether an application or a website, the performance of the application is of utmost importance. It is the performance of the application that will gain you maximum traction and visibility, improving the engagement levels.

Performance is a user-centric parameter and one of the most important concerns when developing your startup or project from the user’s perspective.

The performance is also the speed of the application’s response, and how fast the application is able to execute the code. When you compare the two frameworks, Python and Node.js, you see that Node.js is a faster and high-performance framework. The Chrome V8 engine on which the Node.js development works, is powerful and fast, which is also the main reason for the quick response offered by Node.

Whether it is a high content streaming website like NetFlix or a real-time chat application, the performance and response time are important, which is why they have opted to work with Node.js. Again, when it comes to memory intensive applications, Python’s response time may not be that good. So, it is a good idea to use Node.js in place of Python in real-time and memory intensive applications.

Scalability & Load Handling

Both the technologies are firmly used for backend development, and scalability of the servers, as well as scalability in terms of load handling, is of importance when choosing the framework.

The application should be able to handle multiple concurrent requests, easily handle the increase in the requests and scale without compromising the performance. If your framework can handle this, then it is the perfect solution for your needs.

Node.js with its asynchronous architecture for I/O as well as the event looping structure can manage the scalability with ease in case of simple applications. If you are dealing with complex applications. Node.js development requires knowledge and careful engineering of the processes.

Python development supports scalability too, though not as easily as Node.js and without the asynchronous processing. The framework has tools that can be used if you want to improve the concurrent handling for your application.

The Learning Curve

This is a significant parameter, one that involves the speed of development and the time-to-market of the application. Node.js is run using the JavaScript environment, which means you simply need to acquire the knowledge of JavaScript to get started with this technology.

In certain cases, you are not aware of JavaScript, which is when you should turn to Python. It has a cleaner syntax and better coding facility, which means you don’t need prior coding knowledge to get started with this language.

There is an extensive documentation and a strong community available, should you be stuck anywhere, for both Python and Node.js.

Both technologies are strong and have a good presence of developers, so if you want to get a strong team in place, both technologies are good to go. However, if you want to shorten the learning curve and get access to easier coding habits, then Python is your choice.

Error Handling Capability

This is the final comparison parameter and an important one at that. The programming language should offer an easy and transparent method of handling errors. Both the technologies are good at catching errors while running the program and fixing them at the same time. The error handling capacity for both of them is really good.

Summing up

When it comes to extensive and real-time applications, Node.js is your go-to framework, while when you are looking for a technology that is easy to setup and quick to run, you should go with Python.

If you have an idea and wish to get started with development, connect with Coruscate. We will validate your idea, and follow a proper execution process to get your application launched quickly.

Note: We do not make clones of any exact application, clone means to us is how better we can execute your app idea with existing app features and experience.

The post Node.js vs Python – Which One Should You Choose For Your Project? appeared first on Coruscate Solutions.

It may seem like a new-on-the-block JavaScript framework, which it is obviously but, it has proven its worthiness by integrating with top businesses across the globe. Here, we will take you through how the top companies have successfully revamped their web applications with Node.js and how this has boosted their capabilities.

Chilling with Netflix

The whole chil with Netflix was made possible when the DVD company moved to live video streaming with Node.js. The framework has harbored and improved the capability of Netflix. Before Node.js, Netflix operated using JavaScript for the front-end, and Java along the back-end. This meant the developer had to code twice, once for the frontend and the for the back-end.

With Node.js development, the repetitive coding was not needed. The common language for both the front-end and the server side led to single coding effort. 1/4th of the EC2 instances are run with the Node.js server. Rapid development, testing and deployment is made possible, which means upgrades are made to the apps faster. To integrate all the Java dependencies in their new app based on Node.js, the application Hystrix fault tolerance library, which is also the foundation for most of the content found on Netflix.

For integration with Java-based libraries and servers, Netflix invented the Prana service, using open-source Java framework. The performance of the platform was faster, as the app could be launched in less than a minute’s time, which is a 70% reduction as against the previous launch time.

Go On-Demand With Uber

Uber has been offering on-demand cab services since inception. Recently, the company has entered the on-demand laundry and eating spaces as well. They are present in over 60 countries and approximately 404 cities across the globe. The matching system, which allows the pairing of users and drivers, has been enabled using Node.js.

There is a reason for choosing Node.js for the matching system, and it has to do with the error-free processing. The framework allows easy processing of information, quick inspection of the program and better ability to check on the errors. This enables the developers to publish and deploy new code actively, thus optimizing the matching system, and improving the performance.

Node.js makes it easy to scale and improve the system, practically on its own.

Hunting Heads With LinkedIn

It may come as a news for some, and stale news to others that LinkedIn operates using Node.js too. There are 400Mn members on-board LinkedIn and it operates in over 200 countries. The main aim of having Node.js for LinkedIn is to make sure the server-side app works faster and with increased performance.

The mobile app based on Node.js works 20 times faster than it did before. The total servers are down from 30 to 3 with the new application framework. What more, the new app uses only few resources and works better than before. The whole development time and process is better and optimized with Node.js.

The whole idea of delivering using Node.js seems to be working great for LinkedIn.

Easy Payments With Paypal

Paypal’s use of Node.js to improve the speed and performance of its application has become a case study. This was one of the first companies to give Node.js a chance, at a time when Node.js was in its early stage.

Paypal is a money transfer application, almost similar to a wallet. It has been successfully integrated with several apps to make money transfer easy and hassle-free.

Most people across the world identify with this payment system and have been using it on every app where payments are essential. You would find that the number of users on this payment gateway goes up during sales, especially the Black Friday sales.

They wanted to make sure that they are always available, despite the increase in load. This was the main reason to move to Node.js with their server-side programming. There was a 35% reduction in the average response time since the application was moved to Node.js. The pages opened 200ms faster than previous load times. So, if with Java the pages that opened in one second were 1.8, it increased to 3.3 with Node.js

Connected Marketplace Groupon

Groupon is ecommerce marketplace that connects subscribers with local merchants in the fields of travel, activities, goods and services. They have customers in over 500 cities. The company had decided to move from Ruby on Rails to Node.js in order to accept the incoming traffic in a better way. The community was growing and they wanted to ensure they could offer seamless performance to the increasing load. They also wanted to make sure the app could be scaled to meet the new increase in load.

The company was able to deal with the community with less hardware and could handle the increase in the load with Node.js application for Groupon. They did not have to depend on the existing code to make changes in the application. The changes were made independent of the existing application and could be easily synced with the application. These changes were made to the module and added to the application, which meant redesign and changes in the application could be done quickly with Node.js, without affecting the source code.

Hosting with Godaddy

Godaddy is one of the biggest names in the domain purchase and hosting world. There are millions of people who have hosted their websites on the Godaddy servers. This means, the company had to make sure all-time availability and zero downtime. They recently moved to Node.js for their back-end sourcing.

With this move, they have been able to develop, test and launch their applications quickly. The unit integration tests make testing quicker with this framework. NPM access is also beneficial to this company.

The company has reduced the number of servers 10 times with their Node.js solutions. The time to first byte (TTFB) has been reduced to 12ms from 60ms. The site and the back-end is optimized, and has improved their search rankings too.

The company is able to handle the increased load with 10% of the hardware they owned initially, and all thanks to Node.js

Conclusion

Node.js is a powerful framework but, more than that it is a very optimized framework which allows easy scalability and load handling. With Node.js along the backend, you would see that the same operations can be carried out with fewer resources and optimized infrastructure.

Most of the companies have shifted to Node.js in order to downsize their resources and improve their availability. Coruscate has been developing simple solutions using Node.js for the complex requirements posed by the business. If you want to improve your business operations efficiency or just the overall performance of your systems, hire node.js developers, and we assure optimized and scalable systems.

The post How Top Global Companies Are Using Node.js To Scale Their Business? appeared first on Coruscate Solutions.