revHHTP

[Todd Geist]

Thanks Richard.

Yeah I wouldn't use it as public facing web server.  Although as node.js
points out you can be a fantastic WebServer and be still be single
threaded. But node has the advantage of having a non blocking event loop
which turns out to solve the first big performance bottleneck, without
having to be multi-threaded.

I am interested in two things.  One, a way to make APIs for inter app and
inter process communication.  And two, a way to build the UI for desktop
LiveCode apps with HTML5, CSS, and JS.

In my current project, I have a node.js app running in its own thread as a
separate process, wrapped in side a LiveCode app. LiveCode provides the UI,
and it is self updating etc.  Now that we have a nice chrome browser
object, I could build the UI or parts of the UI in HTML, but for now the
LiveCode UI is fine.

What I needed was a way for the Node application to take to my LiveCode
wrapper app.  This little mchttp.mc should be perfect for that.

Todd






On Sun, Nov 2, 2014 at 8:55 AM, Richard Gaskin <ambassador at fourthworld.com>
wrote:

> Todd Geist wrote:
> > I am looking for a copy of the http server written in LiveCode.
> > it was called revHTTP, and before that it was mcHTTP
> >
> > anyone have a copy?
>
> There have been a few floating around over the years.  The first was made
> by Dr. Raney himself as a way of demonstrating robust socket
> communications, posted at metacard.com as mchttd.mc back before the turn
> of the century.
>
> Fun as it was when it first came out, over time browsers have become more
> strict in what they expect in HTTP headers, so that original stack no
> longer works as-is.
>
> Several years ago Andre Garzia wrote a much-expanded version of that,
> which may be the one you're referring to.  If it's still around it may be
> at his site, but I don't believe it's maintained any longer, and Andre
> recommends using Apache and NginX for serious development.
>
> Given that LiveCode doesn't yet support threading, I generally agree with
> Andre:  Apache does a good job of juggling multiple simultaneous requests
> by spawning new instances of itself, and spawning new instances of any CGIs
> it may use, like LiveCode Server.  This sort of parallelism through
> multi-processing is important in a production environment where
> simultaneous requests are inevitable and cannot afford to be queued.
>
> However, not every useful environment is for production of
> publicly-accessible works. :)
>
> I have a VPS and a local server I use only for distributed processing and
> exploratory development, and along with other tools (I may be able to share
> my LiveHive project within a few weeks; more on that later), while most of
> my communications with those machines is through SSH (sharing keys opens up
> so many interesting LiveCode opportunities with unusually strong security)
> I've sometimes found it handy to have an HTTP interface available on those
> systems for private purposes where I or one of my automated systems are the
> only users.
>
> In those cases. mchttpd.mc would be useful if only it output proper
> headers.  So with Andre's permission I backported his header function to
> mchttpd.mc, and have posted it to my site under a new name to distinguish
> the revision:
> <http://www.fourthworld.net/lc/mchttpd-4W.zip>
>
> You're welcome to use it, modify it, and share it.  I've discussed the
> revised version with Dr. Raney and at his request it's available under MIT
> license.
>
> Since LiveCode is single-threaded, the range of applicable use-cases as a
> socket daemon is limited.  It will never bee Apache, and Apache is so
> useful and flexible, and has such a vast supporting ecosystem of learning
> materials and extensions, it's rare that we truly need anything else.
>
> Moreover, LiveCode Server as a CGI under Apache is a great way to get the
> best of what each brings to the table.  Multi-processing may carry a bit
> more overhead than multi-threading but not as much as one might think, and
> is so absolutely discrete that it's much easier to code for, and in some
> contexts more secure.
>
> In fact, the overhead with LC is roughly on par in my testing with similar
> use of PHP, Python, or other scripting engines.  And given that we can so
> easily make purpose-built stuff I find many instances where LiveCode
> Server-based solutions are more scalable than similar but much more
> generalized (hence larger) PHP-based systems like Drupal or Joomla.
>
> All that said, you have an adventurous mind and there's no telling what
> you're up to. :)  The updated mchttpd may be a good fit.  I'd be interested
> in hearing what you wind up doing with it.
>
> --
>  Richard Gaskin
>  Fourth World Systems
>  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
>  ____________________________________________________________________
>  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com
>
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-- 
Todd Geist


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