WABuR (Web Application Builder using Ruby)
WABuR is a Web Application Builder using Ruby. It is easy to use, taking just
a minute to create a Hello World web application and it is FAST, hitting
over 200,000 fetches a second with a Ruby core! It employs a modern NoSQL JSON
data store and a single-page UI using JavaScript.
It is pluggable and extendable in many ways to allow new additions, alternative databases, and any number of UIs.
Quick Start
With WABuR you are up and running in minutes with only one file to modify to specify attributes. It doesn't get any simpler. Heres how.
Install the wabur gem.
$ gem install wabur
Create a new project and cd into the directory.
$ wabur new --base blog Entry
$ cd blog
Define attributes for the data elements along with the attributes that will be
displayed in a list view. Open lib/ui_controller.rb and modify by adding two
lines and changing one.
require 'wab/ui'
class UIController < WAB::UI::MultiFlow
def initialize(shell)
super
add_flow(WAB::UI::RestFlow.new(shell,
{
kind: 'Entry',
title: '',
content: "\n\n\n\n",
}, ['$ref', 'title']))
end
end
Just run the wabur command from inside the project directory. Open
localhost:6363 in a browser.
$ wabur
Want to know more? A tutorial is available in the tutorial directory. It takes a couple of minutes to go through the first lesson.
WABuR Benchmarks
 |  |
| Runner | Read Throughput | Read Latency | Create Throughput | Create Latency | Setup time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAB Pure Ruby | 2.8K Reads/sec | 1.4 msecs | 2.2K Creates/sec | 1.8 msecs | 1 minute |
| OpO-Rub | 212K Reads/sec | 0.09 msecs | 134K Creates/sec | 0.15 msecs | 1 minute |
| OpO Direct | 364K Reads/sec | 0.05 msecs | 157K Creates/sec | 0.13 msecs | 1 minute |
| Ruby on Rails | 123 Reads/sec | 175 msecs | ---- Creates/sec | ---- msecs | 20 minutes |
| Sinatra | 1.5K Reads/sec | 13 msecs | ---- Creates/sec | ---- msecs | 60 minutes |
More interested in the benchmarks? Then take a look at the benchmarks page.
Where to use WABuR
WABuR takes a different approach which opens up new possibilities for uses of Ruby. Some examples that WABuR is suitable for are:
Race Results - With the ability to handle massive traffic WABuR can keep up with the load imposed by hundreds of thousands of users requesting results during the race and with the ability to have multiple UIs realtime displays can be different than those used to display results after the race.
Voting Systems - Voting systems collect and forward results to central servers. Loads are high during peak periods but well within the limits that WABuR is able to handle. The ease extending WABuR makes it easy to implement the migration of data to a central server or multiple servers.
Operations Monitoring - Log using JSON and WABuR can be used to monitor and query logs.
Market Data - With the high throughput and low latency WABuR is a good candidate for systems that need to display market data and processing of market data.
Mapping - Systems that display data on a map can use WABuRs flexibility with regard to the UI.
Directory - As an example of a quick and easy build, an directory or address book can be started in minutes.
Rails
A natural question is "What about Rails?". Rails is well established and has a huge user base. WABuR is not a replacement for Rails. It is an alternative for those who want to explore using JSON databases with a single-page dynamic JavaScript UI.
Participate and Contribute
If you like the idea and want to help out, or become a core developer on the project, send me an email. Get in on the ground floor and lets make something awesome together.
Guidelines
These are the simple guidelines for contributing.
Take a look at the architecture page and the source code.
Coordinate with me first before getting started to avoid duplication of effort or implementing something in conflict with the plans.
Branch off the
developbranch and submit a PR.Write unit tests.
Write straight forward, clean, and simple code. No magic stuff, no monkey patching Ruby core classes, and no inheriting from core classes.