Red Hat Openshift has a solid free tier, free SSL, git push deployments, node / ruby / python / java / php / etc., mysql / postgres, redis. Why would I use this over that?
This seems like a different use case than those solutions. This is if you're working on a project and you want to share the state of what you're working on across the net. Think of it like a point-in-time disposable link shortner but for a full node app.
Actually, I think the issue is that you just don't understand the meaning of those words.
The "rich module ecosystem" he is speaking of refers to npm. With node and npm it is trivial to install a few modules from the command line, write up a custom server, and very quickly have yourself a dynamic web page or API.
The "realtime JavaScript cloud" is basically any node application running on a service like Heroku or with any number of hosts and providers ranging from self-managed VPNs to esoteric AWS services. Applications that run on this realtime JavaScript cloud are incredibly portable as engines can be fired up and torn down very quickly across both server-side and client-side environments.
This service that he has been a part of creating does exactly this. It empowers the user by streamlining existing development processes.
I would say that his sentence is rather meaningful contemporary industry jargon.
I do understand them exactly the way you explained.
However, they're still a buzzwordful, dodging, non-answer to the relative parents' very simple question. They're a reiteration of the most basic, marketing-level bulletpoints on why node.js and microservices are so wonderful! that barely scratch the surface of real-world software complexity.
I'm gonna go further: that is actually a fantastic mission statement!
I believe that it is very important to have goals that are simple in definition. It can really help the cause if the ultimate meaning is somewhat allusive. The act of interpreting the mission statement bakes in a dynamic element that can help keep an organization from getting stuck in place.
That I can interpret this mission statement in a verbose, complicated and applied manner is an example of its utility.
How are you thinking about latency in an environment where there's a waterfall of Now function calls? Will Now functions calling over Now functions naturally get cached on the same server?
There's no explicit concept of "now functions". You simply deploy HTTP/2 services to the cloud.
HTTP/2 significantly improves performance by introducing multiplexing and header compression. There's no need to introduce new concepts or APIs. REST away!
I think this is a fantastic way to do code interviews who ask us to make an app n host it in a real URL for consumption. It's just one use case that can immediately think of.
Valid point, but there is a fairly robust open source community that provides many more packages (called cartridges in openshift lingo) than are officially supported [0]