So after programming for a couple of hours, I have nothing really left to show for it. I performed some exploratory solutions to different problems and wasn't really feeling any of them. So, now I left with making some tough decisions. Tough in that many paths forward either require ugly code or lots of work. And neither of those options sounds super fun given the time I'm able to dedicate to this project.
First off, the web application is rather slow. That's life when you are dealing with querying a blockchain. But the benefit of a blockchain is that you have a secure, verifiable, public database. But organizing the rest of this application, I have come to the realization that I can either have:
- A really slow application using the blockchain
- Run my own blockchain node and improve speed of the application some
- Create a database cache that stores content that is less than seven days old
One requires the least work, the second requires some upfront cost and the third requires a bunch of work. However given my previous work on Q-Filter and the temporary storage mechanisms I developed there, it is definitely achievable. A another benefit to picking the third option is allowing for additional analytics to be stored that can be used in the development of future features that can help users discover new content more effectively.
Of course, a lot of planning has to take place before something like this can be implemented. So we may be taking a short break from code. Or we may jump straight into code and figure things out along the way. I'm not quite sure yet. Still have quite a lot of technical brainstorming to figure out. Sorry that there's nothing additionally substantive that I can give you today. But hope you had a great weekend!