Firebase gotchas
Firebase is a useful tool, but it does have some caveats.
One of the big selling points (for us especially) is its real-time database. This means that changes to the data by one user are automatically pushed to all users. We don't have to check whether a new chat message has been created; each instance of the application will be instantly informed.
The database also has offline persistence, which means our users can read their messages even when they're offline (which, if you remember, fulfills one of the user stories we outlined earlier). Firebase uses local caching to achieve this.
So, what's the downside? The Firebase database is a NoSQL database, and has a specific syntax that may seem strange to developers more used ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access