CombustJS

CombustJS is a noBackend framework that mimics Firebase behavior. It allows developers to create real-time (push-based), persistent applications without writing a line of back-end code. CombustJS was developed over the course of three weeks and successfully recreates the following firebase functionality:

1. Firebase-like object-relational mapping. This means that the entire backend database can be treated, by the front-end developer, as a giant JavaScript object that can be modified, set, and pushed (similar to an array or a list) into. This is an incredibly powerful abstraction because every experienced front-end developer has a mental model of how JavaScript objects work and are stored, and as a result, they know how to structure and use data in the CombustJS backend.
2. Firebase-like push-notifications. CombustJS clients can subscribe to any piece of data, and receive updates when that data is updated in realtime. This makes developing real-time, persistent, data-driven applications really easy. In our getting started tutorial below, a real-time chat application (with data persistence!) can be written in 9 lines of JavaScript.
3. Baked in authentication and authorization. With an additional 40 lines of frontend-only JavaScript / JQuery code user accounts can be added to the chat application. In addition to user accounts, the ability to restrict parts of the database based on user-priviledge is also built-in. Authentication is managed via JWT's.
4. Automatic RESTful API. The CombustJS automatically generates a RESTful API that allows you to access any piece of data in the database, if you have the right permissions, with a simple HTTP request; you can do it right in your browser!
5. A testing suite with over 100 tests for various functionality, as well as full documentation for our client library and backend server (for developers who wish to contribute). Please see the documentation section below for links to the online documentation.

All of these features makes it incredibly easy to write real-time, persistent, single-page applications. Take a look at the following code that implements a chat-client, with user management:

Check out our chat application tutorial to see just how easy it is to develop real-time, persistent applications without writing a line of back-end code.

Architecture

Documentation

1. CombustJS backend documentation (developer facing)
2. CombustJS client Library documentation (user facing)

Installation

1. [Install RethinkDB] (http://rethinkdb.com/docs/install/)
2. Use the RethinkDB GUI to create a database and table (name them whatever you want)
3. Modify config.js to point to the right database and tablename
4. Install the CombustJS NPM module - npm install --save combust-js
5. Install the Express NPM module - npm install --save express
6. Create a server.js file

var express = require('express');
var combust = require('combust-js');
var port = process.env.port || 3000;
var app = express();
var server = combust(app, port);

Usage

1. Run RethinkDB by navigating to the directory where you want data to be stored and executing rethinkdb
2. Run the server using node node server.js

Thats it! You can start writing applications that interact with the server using the CombustJS client library (insert bower / getting started instructions here)

Testing

Make sure RethinkDB and the Node server are running, then navigate to node_modules/combust-js and execute grunt test

Contributing

1. Fork it!
2. Create your feature branch: git checkout -b my-new-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add some feature'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin my-new-feature
5. Submit a pull request

Authors

1. Richard Artoul
2. Kuldeep Dhanjal
3. Alex Mendez
4. Jack Zhang

License

MIT