January 2019 Summaries

Nic Raboy, an advocate of web and mobile development technologies, provides a detailed tutorial on creating an Amazon Alexa Skill using Golang and the Couchbase NoSQL database, expanding on his previous tutorial about AWS Lambda functions. The tutorial guides readers through setting up a Lambda function compatible with Alexa, including handling requests and responses in JSON format, and integrating with Couchbase for data management. It covers the creation of intents such as "AboutIntent," "CreateTodoIntent," and "GetTodosIntent," which allow Alexa to perform specific actions based on user requests. Raboy explains the deployment process, including compiling the application for Linux, uploading to AWS Lambda, and configuring the Alexa Skill with invocation names, intents, sample utterances, and dynamic slot data to enhance interaction. He emphasizes the importance of creating custom slot types for dynamic data and testing the Skill in the Alexa Developer Console before deployment, while also noting mandatory intents required for Amazon's approval.

Couchbase's Query and Analytics Services both utilize N1QL (SQL for JSON) but are designed for different types of workloads. The Query Service is tailored for applications running the business and managing operational tasks, characterized by a high volume of concurrent, short, and relatively simple queries, similar to OLTP workloads. In contrast, the Analytics Service is better suited for analysis tasks, handling fewer concurrent queries that are longer and more complex, akin to OLAP workloads. While the Query Service operates with short latency and high throughput, the Analytics Service is designed for more extensive data analysis with longer response times. The blog emphasizes that the choice between these services should be based on the specific demands of the workload, comparing various technical aspects such as execution, indexing, and architecture to aid in decision-making.

Nic Raboy, an advocate of modern web and mobile development technologies, shares his expertise in creating AWS Lambda functions using the Go programming language to interact with Couchbase, a NoSQL database. Initially, Nic explored functions as a service (FaaS) using Node.js, but with the recent support for Golang in AWS Lambda, he demonstrates how to build a function that can both query and create documents in Couchbase. The tutorial provides a step-by-step guide, from setting up a Go development environment to deploying and testing the function on AWS Lambda. Nic explains the importance of cross-compiling the application for AWS's specific operating system and provides instructions on packaging the application for deployment. The tutorial concludes by suggesting future enhancements, such as integrating with Amazon Alexa to use voice commands as triggers, and notes its inclusion in the Couchbase Community Writing Program.

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and retail industries are known for their early adoption of technology due to their consumer-focused and competitive nature. In the supply chain lifecycle, the relationship between CPG and retail firms is crucial, as products are sold through on-field sales representatives who collect orders from retail stores or warehouses using mobile devices. These sales agents manage multiple customers within a specific geographic area, ensuring they have the necessary information on product pricing and promotions to facilitate sales. The development of a mobile strategy for a CPG company in the Midwest highlights the importance of digital tools in enhancing the efficiency of field sales operations.

The concept of user deduplication is crucial for managing a corpus of user-related data and can be achieved using various methods, including batch processing or real-time solutions. A traditional approach involves running all user information through an application to match records based on defined heuristics, but this method often results in stale data due to the need for batch or scheduled actions. In contrast, Couchbase Eventing provides a new option for effective deduplication using real-time functions. By setting up four buckets (metadata, staging, fieldindex, and users) and creating a function called "dedupe", developers can develop a real-time user deduplication engine in just 50 lines of code. The function uses helper functions to parse documents, find matches, and update the index, ensuring that duplicate users are removed and canonical users are created. This approach allows for flexibility and customization, making it possible to adapt to various use cases and fields beyond just user emails.

The JSON flexible schema data model is well suited for the ambiguous nature of the activity object, allowing for multiple variations in structure to accommodate different CRM needs. The use of Couchbase N1QL as a query language provides a SQL++ implementation that can efficiently satisfy complex data visibility rules, such as direct and team access, hierarchical access, and custom business rule access. This approach enables the effective management of activities in a CRM application, addressing challenges related to volume, data access, and slow system responses due to complex queries. By leveraging N1QL's query construct, which is similar to SQL but simpler, developers can create robust and efficient data models that meet the functional requirements for direct and team data visibility.

Couchbase Mobile data platform offers the capability to sync data across mobile clients using Couchbase Lite and the Sync Gateway, with specific support for running apps in the background on iOS, Android, and .Net platforms to ensure up-to-date data on app launch. The tutorial introduced focuses on leveraging iOS's Background App Refresh feature to sync data in the background, using a Swift-based "User Profile" app as an example. It demonstrates configuring the app to perform a one-shot sync with the Couchbase Sync Gateway when the app is activated in the background. This ensures the user profile information is kept current, syncing with a remote server and other devices, subject to access control. The guide highlights that while the tutorial is iOS-specific, similar concepts apply to other platforms, and encourages users to explore Silent Notifications as an alternative background mode.

FaunaDb is the subject of a recent episode of The NoSQL Database Podcast, featuring Chris Anderson as a special guest to discuss the implementation of RAFT and ACID principles in a NoSQL database. The episode, which is the 26th in the series following a discussion with Nathan Voxland on Liquibase, is available on major podcasting platforms like iTunes and Pocket Casts. Listeners can engage with the hosts, Chris Anderson and the podcast's regular host, via Twitter. Additionally, for those interested in Couchbase, the Couchbase Developer Portal is recommended as a resource.