- Identify the primary programming language used in your application.
For our application, we will be using two languages that will help us accomplish our goals. Since we are developing a chat application using a specific framework, we will be using Python to develop the server side code and JavaScript to create our client side code.
- Are your languages compiled or interpreted?
Python is an interpreted language meaning it generally runs slower than a compiled language such as C++ or Java. The Python interpreter is implemented in the C language. We can see this when we run our Python code a "__pychache__" folder is created. In this folder contains the binary files for our code with the extension ".pyc" meaning that the code was interpreted with the C language.
JavaScript is also an interpreted language, but there are multiple interpreters, usually for each browser. For example, Google Chrome uses their V8 engine that was created by Google using C++. The Mozilla Foundation created the Rhino engine that was developed entirely in Java. This is why JavaScript may behave differently in some browsers. More about JavaScript can be found here.
- Identify the underlying components of communication that will be used in your application.
High Level:
The user will communicate with our server by having to login using their credentials. Since we want to limit the usage of our application to only CSUB students, we want to find a way to autheticate whether or not the user is a student. The next form of communication a user will have is with other users. The flow of data would be the user logging into the chatroom, then data (the message) will be sent to the chatroom for all other users to see. A reach goal we would like to implement is another form of communication where the user can report any problems to an admin by submitting a ticket and having the ticket being responded by the admin.
Low Level:
Since we are using Flask as our framework for this web application, there is a Flask extension called flask-SocketIO that is based off the original SocketIO which is a JavaScript library. This Flask extension is widely used when creating a chat application using the Flask framework. Since the application will need both a server and client side script, we will be creating the server code in Python and the client code in JavaScript.
- How "waiting" will work in our application:
With the flask-SocketIO extension, waiting is handled within the extension meaning there is no need for infinite loops that wait for connection. Once the server has started, the extension uses decorators (pictured below) to handle events such as incoming messages. Similarly, the client side, which will be developed using the SocketIO extension of JavaScript.
As far as the client side, the JavaScript will use functions that listen on a URL and port, and will help us display the messages onto our HTML page. As long as the server is running, the client will always be waiting on a connection one the website is loaded. Pictured below is how the JavaScript will listen for certain events.
