I’ve been hacking this project on the side for a while now and it’s at that stage where I’m happy with the results. I released it once but felt something lacking and really didn’t think it was ready for people to use it. I wasn’t happy with the results.
I feel as though I have an app that looks and functions well now. And more importantly, it won’t crash as often as I’m comfortable with :p.
Still, lots of improvements to be made.
There are numerous enhancements that need to be made but mainly:
- Need to add a spritesheet
- Client side code needs to be refactored
- Need to add Node.js to the messaging layer
I’m going to release the Desktop version first. Then the Mobile Versions.
Currently the app uses EventMachine and Faye for the messaging. But a well build messaging application should have a separate process for the messages. I’m thinking of using NSQ for queuing messages. Rails is a great Framework for building CRUD apps, but I’ve read that it doesn’t do well with concurrency. So I’m thinking of using Node to handle that.
I had a question about this earlier. If I had a queue that works well with processing jobs, then what would Node be used for? I think Node would be what I use to replace EventMachine and Faye. Rails would simply be a place to hold stateful data (eg. users information, connection to friends, or chatrooms), and Node & NSQ would be used to broker chat messages and do other things that handle real-time data transmission.
Security is another concern. It needs to be bolted down so the users data is safe. I glanced at Rails Security Guide and I think it’s a good start. I don’t know much about security and I think it’s time I should start focusing on it. As a career move, I think it’s a good skillset to have anyway.
Last two things that’s on my mind but somewhat of a luxury is tests and the structure of the app. I think it definitely could have a much smaller codebase and be much more modular in how the classes interact with one another. And tests are a must for the integrity of the app.
Having fun :).
P.S. Can’t wait for summer! It’s too cold!
Kokonaut Labs 