February 2023 Summaries

Ably has launched a Next.js Starter Kit on the Vercel Templates Marketplace to help developers quickly add realtime capabilities to web applications without managing dedicated infrastructure. After deploying the kit to Vercel and configuring an Ably API key, users receive a working foundation demonstrating token authentication, publish/subscribe messaging, presence indicators, and message history, which can support features such as chat, collaboration, synchronization, broadcasts, and notifications. The kit combines Next.js for frontend development with Ably’s managed realtime APIs and infrastructure, and is accompanied by a live demo, GitHub source code, and a tutorial for building a realtime chat app. Ably has also expanded its ecosystem support through an integration on Netlify’s Integrations Hub and a Terraform Provider for managing Ably resources as infrastructure as code.

CRDTs (Conflict-free Replicated Data Types) are simple data structures that can be used in distributed systems without requiring complex libraries or abstract algebra knowledge. They ensure coordination-free semantics and maintain consistency across multiple nodes. Two examples of CRDT usage in practice are the netmap and presence mechanisms in Ably's distributed pub/sub platform. The netmap uses a simple set CRDT to manage cluster membership, while the presence mechanism switches between two different CRDT models based on ordering requirements for transport. Understanding CRDTs can help software engineers identify common patterns and ensure consistency in their distributed systems.

Realtime functionality is now a crucial expectation for users across various applications such as online communities and remote collaboration platforms. Organizations often face the dilemma of whether to buy or build their own realtime infrastructure. This article discusses the costs associated with building in-house realtime infrastructure, including initial construction, ongoing maintenance, and opportunity cost. It emphasizes that building realtime infrastructure is resource-intensive and can divert time and effort away from core product functionality. The article also highlights the benefits of using a Platform as a Service (PaaS) provider like Ably to reduce costs and focus on delivering unique product features.

Ably is now available through the Netlify Integrations Hub, allowing developers to add realtime functionality to Netlify-hosted applications without separately managing the underlying infrastructure. The integration supports common use cases including multiplayer collaboration, live chat, data synchronization, broadcasts, and notifications. Ably supplies the APIs and scalable backend services for shared interactive experiences, while developers retain control over which features to implement and how they operate. A step-by-step tutorial and free trial are available for teams that want to integrate Ably into their existing Netlify workflow.

Customer experience is evolving and customer loyalty increasingly relies on emotional connections with brands. To meet these expectations, live chat has become an essential tool for providing ongoing connections between customers and businesses. In this article, we explore 15 key features that make a competitive live chat experience, including low latency message delivery, automatic reconnection, channels and private messages, online status, typing indicators, read receipts, reactions, file and image sharing, targeted messages, push notifications, authentication, roles and permissions, message history and storage, message editing and deletion, and moderation. These features enhance the live chat experience for various use cases such as customer service, internal company communication, and two-way marketplaces. To implement these features, businesses can choose to build from scratch, use a Chat-as-a-Service provider, or build their own solution using a Platform-as-a-Service provider like Ably.

Delivering realtime experiences is high risk due to the complexity of building and maintaining in-house infrastructure. Key factors contributing to this risk include lack of expertise, difficulty in anticipating changing user needs, opportunity cost of not focusing on core product functionality, and potential downtime or service degradation. Many teams underestimate the time, resources, and costs required for such projects. Using a Platform as a Service (PaaS) provider can help reduce these risks by simplifying integration, providing known ongoing costs, and ensuring reliability through dedicated specialists.

In-game chat is a crucial feature for online games as it enhances player engagement and retention. It allows players to communicate directly within the game environment, maintaining immersion and providing developers with full control over its integration with game functionality. Key features of in-game chat include moderation and parental controls, friends lists, lobby chat, party/team chat rooms, direct messages, presence and status indicators, GIFs, emojis, reactions, low latency guaranteed delivery, scalability, and reliability. The choice between text-based or voice and video-based chat depends on the game's mechanics, genre, and technical capabilities of the platform. Developers can deliver in-game chat by building it from scratch, integrating with a third-party chat app, using a Chat-as-a-Service (CaaS), or utilizing a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS).