Re: Offline rails apps with Hobo

[Bob Sleys]

As the rails cast shows it will involve a lot of coding to handle the offline mode.  However pretty much anything you can do in rails can be done in hobo.  So I wouldn't rule Hobo out on that note.  However Hobo nor Rails is really designed for this type of operation, it needs to be added manually so I wouldn't rule out another option that might work better in this situation.  I'm a big fan of using the right tool for the job and not the one size fits all approach.  I don't know Meteor so I can't speak to it.

Bob

On Thursday, October 25, 2012 5:16:18 AM UTC-4, Anand wrote:

Folks,

I am new to Hobo and would appreciate your advise. I am exploring using Hobo to build an application that would need to also work "offline". Basically, it would be used by a cellphone user with an intermittent data connection. Therefore, whenever there's an internet connection available, it would sync with the server. We can assume that 90% of the time, an Internet connection will be available, but 10% of the time there would be a break in Internet availability for, say, a few hours. Is Hobo a good choice for building something like this?  I see that there's a Railscast on building offline apps with Rails which involves a lot of javascript and HTML5 based local storage, but it can be done with Rails. 

Would all that also work with Hobo? 

Some people have recommended Meteor as a framework for building apps that support offline operation and immediate syncing whenever Internet is available. Any thoughts on going that route v/s using Hobo?  I do understand that Hobo will be much faster for making a lot of the common functionality. However, I'm not sure if for offline apps, it would still work as a good choice.

Thank you for your insights and advice, anyone who can share.

Regards,

- Anand

[Bryan Larsen]

One option you do have is to write a quick prototype in Hobo, and then
you can add "respond_to :html, :json" to your controllers, and then
write a Meteor or Ember or whatever Javascript application that uses
the Hobo app for its backend.

Not necessarily a great option because you're writing two
applications, but it is a useful option when the two applications are
fairly disparate. For example, the administrative portion of the app
can be in Hobo, and the user side in Meteor.

Bryan

On Thu, Oct 25, 2012 at 5:16 AM, Anand <anand.c...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Folks,
>
> I am new to Hobo and would appreciate your advise. I am exploring using Hobo
> to build an application that would need to also work "offline". Basically,
> it would be used by a cellphone user with an intermittent data connection.
> Therefore, whenever there's an internet connection available, it would sync
> with the server. We can assume that 90% of the time, an Internet connection
> will be available, but 10% of the time there would be a break in Internet
> availability for, say, a few hours. Is Hobo a good choice for building
> something like this? I see that there's a Railscast on building offline
> apps with Rails which involves a lot of javascript and HTML5 based local
> storage, but it can be done with Rails.
>
> Would all that also work with Hobo?
>
> Some people have recommended Meteor as a framework for building apps that
> support offline operation and immediate syncing whenever Internet is
> available. Any thoughts on going that route v/s using Hobo? I do understand
> that Hobo will be much faster for making a lot of the common functionality.
> However, I'm not sure if for offline apps, it would still work as a good
> choice.
>
> Thank you for your insights and advice, anyone who can share.
> Regards,
>
> - Anand
>

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[Anand]

Thank you, Bob and Bryan! 

I think I'll try making something small and quick for "offline" use and then decide on the best tool to move forward with. My research has brought up so many contenders besides Hobo with modifications: Meteor, Yeoman, Railway and TowerJS.

- Anand