4 ms·

I don't get what "the edge" is here. I understand what the edge is with Cloudflare and how it makes sense to run certain applications there but Wasmer doesn't h

I don't get what "the edge" is here. I understand what the edge is with Cloudflare and how it makes sense to run certain applications there but Wasmer doesn't have this kind of infrastructure, does it? Is there any difference to a very small CDN (or APN - application delivery network)? Now when I read about the architecture and the locations it just seems like ordinary cloud hosting, albeit serverless, to me. I can't make much sense of phrases like "The core design of what makes up the Wasmer Edge code base is a distributed monolith" either. So thanks in advance for any help :)

ignoramous 3y ago
I asked bard and this is what it conjured up: > You're a master at communicating technical concepts to developers by being concise, removing fluff, and speaking plainly without any marketing speak. Please explain what the following means... Sure. Here is my explanation of the quote you provided: 1. Distributed monolith: A distributed monolith is a software architecture that combines the benefits of both monolithic and microservices architectures. Like a monolith, all of the code for a distributed monolith is contained in a single binary. However, like a microservices architecture, the code is divided into independent libraries that can be deployed and scaled independently. 2. Separation of concerns: Separation of concerns is a software design principle that breaks down a software system into smaller parts, each of which is responsible for a single, well-defined task. This makes the system easier to understand, maintain, and evolve. 3. Rust libraries: Rust is a programming language that is designed for speed, safety, and reliability. Rust libraries are compiled into machine code at compile time, which makes them faster and more efficient than interpreted languages like Python or JavaScript. 4. Scalability: Scalability is the ability of a software system to handle increased demand without sacrificing performance. Distributed monoliths can be scaled out by adding more nodes to the system. This makes them a good choice for applications that need to be able to handle a large number of users or requests. Sounds convincing.
- preseinger 3y ago
  this is 100% not what a distributed monolith is a distributed monolith is an antipattern that's common to badly executed microservices -- it's essentially an epithet, in no sense a design goal what's being described here is an _elegant_ monolith, which is entirely different, and definitely does not provide the property that independent libraries can be deployed and scaled independently
CharlesW 3y ago
> I don't get what "the edge" is here. I understand what the edge is with Cloudflare and how it makes sense to run certain applications there but Wasmer doesn't have this kind of infrastructure, does it? It does, and the product page (https://wasmer.io/products/edge https://wasmer.io/products/edge) makes it a lot clearer than the linked announcement that Wasmer Edge is basically "Cloudflare Workers for Wasm". The chart at the bottom of the page¹ shows what Wasmer thinks Wasmer Edge completes with — Cloudflare Workers, Amazon Lambda, Fly.io, and "Cloud" (whatever that is). The most significant differentiator seems to be that Wasmer Edge runs on browsers and phones in addition to servers in the cloud, which makes it "edgier" than the alternatives. ¹ Note that it calls the service "Wasmer Deploy" instead of "Wasner Edge", which I assume is a mistake.

ignoramous 3y ago

I asked bard and this is what it conjured up: > You're a master at communicating technical concepts to developers by being concise, removing fluff, and speaking plainly without any marketing speak. Please explain what the following means... Sure. Here is my explanation of the quote you provided: 1. Distributed monolith: A distributed monolith is a software architecture that combines the benefits of both monolithic and microservices architectures. Like a monolith, all of the code for a distributed monolith is contained in a single binary. However, like a microservices architecture, the code is divided into independent libraries that can be deployed and scaled independently. 2. Separation of concerns: Separation of concerns is a software design principle that breaks down a software system into smaller parts, each of which is responsible for a single, well-defined task. This makes the system easier to understand, maintain, and evolve. 3. Rust libraries: Rust is a programming language that is designed for speed, safety, and reliability. Rust libraries are compiled into machine code at compile time, which makes them faster and more efficient than interpreted languages like Python or JavaScript. 4. Scalability: Scalability is the ability of a software system to handle increased demand without sacrificing performance. Distributed monoliths can be scaled out by adding more nodes to the system. This makes them a good choice for applications that need to be able to handle a large number of users or requests. Sounds convincing.

preseinger 3y ago
this is 100% not what a distributed monolith is a distributed monolith is an antipattern that's common to badly executed microservices -- it's essentially an epithet, in no sense a design goal what's being described here is an _elegant_ monolith, which is entirely different, and definitely does not provide the property that independent libraries can be deployed and scaled independently

CharlesW 3y ago

> I don't get what "the edge" is here. I understand what the edge is with Cloudflare and how it makes sense to run certain applications there but Wasmer doesn't have this kind of infrastructure, does it? It does, and the product page (https://wasmer.io/products/edge https://wasmer.io/products/edge) makes it a lot clearer than the linked announcement that Wasmer Edge is basically "Cloudflare Workers for Wasm". The chart at the bottom of the page¹ shows what Wasmer thinks Wasmer Edge completes with — Cloudflare Workers, Amazon Lambda, Fly.io, and "Cloud" (whatever that is). The most significant differentiator seems to be that Wasmer Edge runs on browsers and phones in addition to servers in the cloud, which makes it "edgier" than the alternatives. ¹ Note that it calls the service "Wasmer Deploy" instead of "Wasner Edge", which I assume is a mistake.