The document discusses the challenges of managing large software projects, specifically highlighting the limitations of using a monolithic architecture with Ruby. It advocates for using Node.js as a better alternative for scalability and flexibility, allowing developers to create smaller, interconnected applications. The author, Nicholas W. Young, emphasizes the importance of breaking down functions within an application for improved performance and manageability.

1. Disassembling the Monolith
taming large software projects with
@nicholaswyoung
Nodevember, 2014 bit.ly/nodevember-2014

2. Who is this guy?

3. @nicholaswyoung
radio host
designer
photographer
ex-software developer
extraordinarily busy person

4. originalmachine.com

5. I make
compelling,
educational
radio programs
(think of us as a
slightly edgier
NPR)
photo credit: derrick clifton / medill photojournalism

6. machine.fm

7. DONE I love getting things

8. useless tinkering is
unless it teaches us something

9. my passion isn’t
writing code
(I lost that years ago.)

10. my passion isn’t
writing code
for the sake of
writing code

11. javascript I promise to show you some clever
before we’re done here

12. “scalability”

13. “scalability”
“Scalability is the ability of a system, network, or
process to handle a growing amount of work in a
capable manner or its ability to be enlarged to
accommodate that growth.” - Wikipedia

14. “scalability”
pain in the ass factor
time

15. the year of
explosions

19. Ruby
a programmer’s best friend

20. slow runtime
poor threading support
concurrent long running tasks

21. slow runtime
poor threading support
concurrent long running tasks

22. not knockin’ it
ruby is still awesome, in a lot
of ways

23. but a lot of it
needs to be
rethought

24. file upload
server processing
store processed files in the cloud

25. file upload
everyone does this
server processing
your thread is
waiting
store processed files in the cloud

26. while everything
happens, your user
thinks the app is
doing nothing

27. with several users
submitting large file
uploads, our app
grinds to a halt
* only on one thread, sure, but that’s still bad.

28. why?
because I built a monolith:
public facing website
feed generation
embeddable, sharable player
admin dashboard
media analytics
were all a single app

29. failed deploy =
all services
down

31. this sucks.
it doesn’t mean ruby is inherently
awful, but it didn’t work for our app.

33. “I believe Node is capable of delivering the same, if
not better, results than Rails for any Web
development task, although it's slightly less mature
… and the conventions are less stable.…”
- Sagi Isha, freelance web developer

35. var express = require('express')
, api = express()
, web = express()
, server = express();
server.use('/', web);
server.use('/api', api);
server.listen(8000);

36. var express = require('express')
, api = express()
, web = express()
, server = express();
server.use('/', web);
server.use('/api', api);
server.listen(8000);

39. encourages you to build small,
interconnected applications that each
tackle a specific domain.

40. CMS
Feed Generation
Embeddable Player
Media Analytics
Models
Config
Applications Dependencies

41. javascript let’s talk

42. common application stack
• express
• mongodb
• zeromq

43. common application stack
• distributor
• storage
• transport

44. DEMO

45. prototype
relentlessly

46. break
ByoEFuO bRuEild

47. what do I need? ask

48. operate can each function of your app
discreetly?

50. Q&A ask me anything

51. @nicholaswyoung
nicholaswyoung.com
OriginalMachine.com
Mixdown.co
Machine.FM