Yesterday, we've launched the Developer Preview for Apps, you can play with at https://apps-preview.mozilla.org
The server side is composed of many pieces, and while they are subject to change since this is just a preview, I think it's quite interesting to describe some of them already -- and maybe get more contributors in the process, since everything is open source and contributors are welcome.
Here's an overview of the system -- we used:
- Django for the App MarketPlace
- Cornice for the Sync APIs
- Node.js for the Sauropod APIs
- HBase for the Sauropod DB
The App MarketPlace - Django
The App MarketPlace located at https://apps-preview.mozilla.org is where you can upload your own Apps, or install some. There's a payment process for non-free Apps, and you can see which one you have bought in your profile.
The development is driven by the WebDev team, and is based on Django -- see https://github.com/mozilla/zamboni/tree/master/apps/webapps
I can't really describe this part, as I did not follow it closely. But basically, the Market Place keeps track of your apps and payment receipts, for other parts of the system to interact with.
The Dashboard - HTML + JS
Once you start to install Open Web Applications, you are redirected to a Dashboard at https://myapps.mozillalabs.com. This Dashboard is an HTML application that lists your installed Apps associated to your Browser ID.
What's pretty cool is that no matter where you've installed a given App -- Firefox on your Desktop, your Phone, it will appear on this dashboard, and synced across devices.This is done via a Sync service called AppSync.
Code pointers for the Dashboard:
- https://github.com/mozilla/openwebapps/tree/develop/site
- https://github.com/mozilla/openwebapps/blob/develop/addons/jetpack/lib/sync.js
AppSync
AppSync is the part I worked on. Its design was mainly done by Ian Bicking, who then worked on the client side implementation while I was working on the server side one.
It's quite similar to what we did for Firefox Sync, except that:
- AppSync supports BrowserID
- The data is stored in Sauropod
Securing this data is part of a much larger ongoing project called Sauropod. The idea is that any database access has to be done with credentials, and that Sauropod is in charge of controlling them and dealing with the storage.
In the long term, depending how Sauropod evolves with respect to encryption, and how Firefox Sync itself evolves with respect to Browser ID and Sauropod access, we might merge both projects.
Or maybe Sauropod will provide APIs one day that are good enough for direct clients interactions, turning AppSync into a simple proxy ?
Time will tell !
Anyway, here's an overview below of the AppSync system we've set up for this preview.
We have the AppSync server itself, that's built using Cornice. It provides the synchronisation APIs described in this document: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Apps/Sync/Spec
Every time a client wants to write new data, we call the Sauropod server which is a very simple GET/SET api built with Node.js.
The flow is:
- AppSync server asks for a new Sauropod session, using Browser ID
credentials
- Sauropod verifies the Browser ID credentials then create a DB token
into a session
- AppSync uses this token until its not valid anymore
- Sauropod calls in turn an HBase cluster to access the data
- Every write is mirrored in a MySQL database in AppSync. This
mirroring was set so we can turn off Sauropod if we need to, and
still have a working system. This will eventually go away later.
Find the code here:
- Server https://github.com/mozilla/appsync
- Client https://github.com/mozilla/openwebapps/tree/develop/sync
What's Next
I am really excited by this project. There are a lot of people involved in the Mozilla community, and seeing all the moving pieces assembled to build an Open App environement is pretty cool.
We're going to work in the upcoming months on consolidating the whole system, making sure it scales well and correct the design as the feedback comes back.
If you want to get involved, you can install the preview, play with the available Apps and even maybe write your own Apps for the Market Place, or help us in the coding.
We're hanging in #openwebapps on Mozilla's IRC