Offline-First Apps with PouchDB at Node.js Interactive

Web and mobile apps shouldn't stop working when there's no network connection. Based on Apache CouchDB, PouchDB is an open source syncing JavaScript database that runs within a web browser. Offline-first apps that use PouchDB can provide a better, faster user experience—both offline and online.

Learn how to build offline-enabled responsive mobile web apps using the HTML5 Offline Application Cache and PouchDB. We’ll also discuss how to build cross-platform apps or high-fidelity prototypes using PouchDB, Cordova, and Ionic. PouchDB can also be run within Node.js and on devices for Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

This talk includes code examples for creating a PouchDB database, creating a new document, updating a document, deleting a document, querying a database, synchronization PouchDB with a remote database, and live updates to a user interface based on database changes.

Transcript

1. @BradleyHolt!
   Offline-First Apps with PouchDB
   Node.js Interactive
   Wednesday, December 9, 2015
   Bradley Holt, Developer Advocate
   

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2. @BradleyHolt!
   Image Credit: A mockup of the golden Apple iPhone 5S by Zach Vega, on Wikimedia Commons
   

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3. @BradleyHolt!
   Image Credits: A mockup of the golden Apple iPhone 5S by Zach Vega, on Wikimedia Commons; Joan Touzet (@wohali), ASF Member, CouchDB PMC Member
   

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4. @BradleyHolt!
   Image Credit: Device landscape by Jeremy Keith, on Flickr
   Not just mobile first…!
   

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5. @BradleyHolt!
   Image Credit: Cloud Formation Over the Adirondacks by Bradley Holt
   Offline First!
   Because being offline shouldn't be an error condition.!
   

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6. @BradleyHolt!
   Doesn't ubiquitous
   connectivity make offline-
   enabled apps unnecessary?!
   Image Credit: Cell phone tower by Gary Lerude, on Flickr
   

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7. @BradleyHolt!
   No.!
   Image Credit: Internet Splat Map by Steve Jurvetson, on Flickr
   

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8. @BradleyHolt!
   Quite the opposite, in fact.!
   Image Credit: Tangled Network by Bruno Girin, on Flickr
   

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9. @BradleyHolt!
   Ubiquitous connectivity is
   driving the demand for 

   offline capabilities.!
   Image Credit: Wired by Alexandre Duret-Lutz, on Flickr
   

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10. @BradleyHolt!
    How?!
    Image Credit: connect me to BR549 by frankieleon, on Flickr
    

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11. @BradleyHolt!
    The Eight Fallacies of Distributed Computing
    1.  The network is reliable
    2.  Latency is zero
    3.  Bandwidth is infinite
    4.  The network is secure
    5.  Topology doesn't change
    6.  There is one administrator
    7.  Transport cost is zero
    8.  The network is homogeneous
    Text Credit: The Eight Fallacies of Distributed Computing by Peter Deutsch | Image Credit: Pneumatic Central by Sleestak, on Flickr
    

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12. @BradleyHolt!
    Image Credit: Connected version 2 by Hans Kylberg, on Flickr
    Offline-first is the only way 

    to achieve a true, 100% 

    always-on user experience.*
    !
    *assuming the device is reliable!
    

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13. @BradleyHolt!
    Faster User Experience!
    Image Credit: Speed DLR on Doklands by Umberto Rotundo, on Flickr
    

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14. @BradleyHolt!
    Works Offline!
    Image Credit: Lynn Camp Prong (Explored) by AllieKF, on Flickr
    

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15. @BradleyHolt!
    Battery and Bandwidth!
    Image Credit: Panorama of the Molasses Disaster site by Boston Public Library, on Flickr
    

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16. @BradleyHolt!
    Image Credit: A mockup of the golden Apple iPhone 5S by Zach Vega, on Wikimedia Commons
    

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17. @BradleyHolt!
    Image Credit: A mockup of the golden Apple iPhone 5S by Zach Vega, on Wikimedia Commons
    

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18. @BradleyHolt!
    Image Credit: A mockup of the golden Apple iPhone 5S by Zach Vega, on Wikimedia Commons
    

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19. @BradleyHolt!
    Image Credit: A mockup of the golden Apple iPhone 5S by Zach Vega, on Wikimedia Commons
    

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20. @BradleyHolt!
    Image Credit: A mockup of the golden Apple iPhone 5S by Zach Vega, on Wikimedia Commons
    

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21. @BradleyHolt!
    

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22. @BradleyHolt!
    Frontend Web Apps
    •  Build responsive mobile web apps
    that work offline
    •  PouchDB adapters available for many
    popular frameworks
    •  Enable full offline usage with
    service workers
    

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23. @BradleyHolt!
    Backend Web Apps
    •  Use PouchDB as the database
    for your Node.js applications
    •  Installable via npm (pouchdb)
    •  Use PouchDB Server
    (pouchdb-server) as a drop-in
    replacement for CouchDB
    

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24. @BradleyHolt!
    Mobile Apps
    •  Hybrid Mobile Web Apps
    •  HTML5, CSS and JavaScript apps
    compiled into native mobile apps
    •  Fully-featured, cross-platform native apps
    •  High-fidelity prototypes
    •  Native Mobile Web Apps
    •  Cloudnat Sync for iOS
    •  Cloudant Sync for Android
    

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25. @BradleyHolt!
    Desktop Apps
    •  Use Electron to build cross-platform
    desktop apps with web technologies
    •  Formerly known as Atom Shell
    •  HTML5, CSS and JavaScript apps
    compiled into native desktop apps
    

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26. @BradleyHolt!
    Internet of Things (IoT) Apps
    •  Headless Node.js apps
    •  PouchDB includes a LevelDB
    adapter for use in Node.js
    •  Redis, Riak, and in-memory
    adapters are also available
    •  Good for:
    •  Internet of Things (IoT) applications
    •  Content delivery networks (CDN)
    •  Purpose-built devices
    Image Credit: Ethernet IoT Starter Kit
    

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27. @BradleyHolt!
    PouchDB Code Examples
    

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28. @BradleyHolt!
    

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29. @BradleyHolt!
    JSON Documents
    {

    _id: "6EF9D2B0-13D3-1378-8D30-39E3CE0B36C2",

    _rev: "1-0b457efcf82fb29492ef927ba5b6ee15",

    type: "Feature",

    geometry: {

    type: "Point",

    coordinates: [

    -71.1028,

    42.3691

    ]

    },

    properties: {

    session_id: "3486b13f-7b8a-8a96-dfbf-9b82800e367f",

    timestamp: 1422928591717

    }

    }
    

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30. @BradleyHolt!
    Creating a Local PouchDB Database
    var db = new PouchDB("smart-meter");"
    https://github.com/bradley-holt/offline-first/blob/master/pouchdb/01-create-local-database.js
    

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31. @BradleyHolt!
    Creating a Remote PouchDB Database
    var remoteDb = new PouchDB("https://bradley-holt.cloudant.com/smart-meter");"
    https://github.com/bradley-holt/offline-first/blob/master/pouchdb/02-create-remote-database.js
    

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32. @BradleyHolt!
    Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)
    •  Enable Cross-Origin Resource
    Sharing (CORS) on remote database
    •  Browsers place security restrictions
    on cross-site HTTP requests
    •  If you run into a problem, remember
    this warning!
    Image Credit: Grunge Warning Sign - Do Not Read This Sign by Nicolas Raymond, on Flickr
    

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33. @BradleyHolt!
    Creating a New Document
    var db = new PouchDB("smart-meter");"
    db.put({"
    _id: "2014-11-12T23:27:03.794Z","
    kilowatt_hours: 14"
    }).then(function() {"
    console.log("Document created");"
    }).catch(function(error) {"
    console.log(error);"
    });"
    https://github.com/bradley-holt/offline-first/blob/master/pouchdb/04-create-document-put.js
    

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34. @BradleyHolt!
    Updating a Document
    db.put({"
    _id: "2014-11-12T23:27:03.794Z","
    kilowatt_hours: 14"
    }).then(function(response) {"
    return db.get(response.id);"
    }).then(function(doc) {"
    // Update the value for kilowatt hours"
    doc.kilowatt_hours = 15;"
    // Put the document back to the database"
    return db.put(doc);"
    }).catch(function(error) {"
    console.log(error);"
    });"
    https://github.com/bradley-holt/offline-first/blob/master/pouchdb/05-update-document.js
    

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35. @BradleyHolt!
    Deleting a Document
    db.put({"
    _id: "2014-11-12T23:27:03.794Z","
    kilowatt_hours: 14"
    }).then(function(response) {"
    // Get the document"
    return db.get(response.id);"
    }).then(function(doc) {"
    // Remove the document from the database"
    return db.remove(doc);"
    }).catch(function(error) {"
    console.log(error);"
    });"
    "
    https://github.com/bradley-holt/offline-first/blob/master/pouchdb/06-delete-document.js
    

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36. @BradleyHolt!
    Querying a Database with allDocs!
    db.bulkDocs(["
    {_id: "2014-11-12T23:27:03.794Z", kilowatt_hours: 14},"
    {_id: "2014-11-13T00:52:01.471Z", kilowatt_hours: 15},"
    {_id: "2014-11-13T01:39:28.911Z", kilowatt_hours: 16},"
    {_id: "2014-11-13T02:52:01.471Z", kilowatt_hours: 17}"
    ]).then(function(result) {"
    // Get all documents"
    return db.allDocs({include_docs: true});"
    }).then(function(response) {"
    console.log(response);"
    }).catch(function(error) {"
    console.log(error);"
    });"
    https://github.com/bradley-holt/offline-first/blob/master/pouchdb/07-query-database-all-docs.js
    

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37. @BradleyHolt!
    allDocs Options
    •  include_docs"
    •  conflicts"
    •  attachments"
    •  startkey"
    •  endkey"
    •  inclusive_end
    (true by default)
    •  limit"
    •  skip"
    •  descending"
    •  key"
    •  keys"
    

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38. @BradleyHolt!
    Querying a Database with Map/Reduce
    •  Most queries can be done with allDocs (in PouchDB)
    •  Map functions transform documents into indexes
    •  Reduce functions aggregate results of Map functions
    •  _sum"
    •  _count"
    •  _stats"
    

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39. @BradleyHolt!
    Querying a Database with PouchDB Find
    •  Based on Cloudant Query (Mango)
    •  MongoDB-style query language
    •  Define fields to index
    Image Credit: Mango with section on a white background by bangdoll, on Flickr
    

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40. @BradleyHolt!
    Listening for Database Changes
    var changes = remoteDb.changes({"
    since: "now""
    }).on("change", function(change) {"
    // A document has changed"
    console.log(change);"
    }).on("complete", function(info) {"
    // changes() was canceled"
    console.log(info);"
    }).on("error", function(error) {"
    // changes() has errored"
    console.log(error);"
    });"
    https://github.com/bradley-holt/offline-first/blob/master/pouchdb/11-database-changes.js
    

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41. @BradleyHolt!
    Bidirectional, Live Replication
    var db = new PouchDB("smart-meter");"
    var remoteDb = new PouchDB("
    "https://bradley-holt.cloudant.com/smart-meter""
    );"
    https://github.com/bradley-holt/offline-first/blob/master/pouchdb/10-replicate-database-live.js
    

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42. @BradleyHolt!
    Bidirectional, Live Replication
    var sync = db.sync(remoteDb, {"
    live: true,"
    retry: true"
    }).on("change", function(info) {"
    // Replication has written a new document"
    console.log(info);"
    }).on("complete", function(info) {"
    // Replication has complete or been cancelled"
    console.log(info);"
    }).on("error", function(error) {"
    // Replication has stopped due to an unrecoverable failure"
    console.log(error);"
    });"
    https://github.com/bradley-holt/offline-first/blob/master/pouchdb/10-replicate-database-live.js
    

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43. @BradleyHolt!
    

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44. @BradleyHolt!
    Image Credits
    •  A mockup of the golden Apple iPhone 5S by Zach Vega, on
    Wikimedia Commons
    
    •  Joan Touzet (@wohali), ASF Member, CouchDB PMC Member
    
    •  Device landscape by Jeremy Keith, on Flickr
    
    •  Cloud Formation Over the Adirondacks by Bradley Holt
    
    •  Cell phone tower by Gary Lerude, on Flickr
    
    •  Internet Splat Map by Steve Jurvetson, on Flickr
    
    •  Tangled Network by Bruno Girin, on Flickr
    
    •  Wired by Alexandre Duret-Lutz, on Flickr
    
    •  connect me to BR549 by frankieleon, on Flickr
    
    •  Pneumatic Central by Sleestak, on Flickr
    
    •  Connected version 2 by Hans Kylberg, on Flickr
    
    •  Speed DLR on Doklands by Umberto Rotundo, on Flickr
    
    •  Lynn Camp Prong (Explored) by AllieKF, on Flickr
    
    •  Panorama of the Molasses Disaster site by Boston Public Library, on
    Flickr
    
    •  Ethernet IoT Starter Kit
    
    •  Grunge Warning Sign - Do Not Read This Sign by Nicolas Raymond,
    on Flickr
    
    •  Mango with section on a white background by bangdoll, on Flickr
    
    

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45. @BradleyHolt!
    Bradley Holt
    Developer Advocate
    @BradleyHolt
    github.com/bradley-holt
    

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