Build Web Apps Quicker And Easier With Meteor - Website Planet Interview
Website Planet had the chance to sit down and chat with Frederico Maia, CEO of Meteor, a full-stack JavaScript platform for developing modern web and mobile applications. We discussed how Meteor started, the challenges they faced while growing the company, and got some his expert insights on the recent trends worth keeping an eye on.
What is Meteor and how does it work?
Meteor.js is an open-source full-stack JavaScript framework that allows developers to build real-time web applications more easily and efficiently. The core of Meteor is built on Node.js and MongoDB, which provide the server-side runtime environment and the database, respectively. Meteor uses DDP, a protocol based on WebSockets, to integrate with the client-side. It works with popular front-end frameworks like React, Svelte, Vue, and Blaze, which allows developers to create dynamic user interfaces that update in real-time as the data changes.
One of the key features of Meteor is its data synchronization system, which allows data to be automatically synced between the client and server in real-time. This means that changes made on the server are immediately reflected in the client’s UI, and vice versa.
To run Meteor applications, you can use any server that supports Node.js. In that case, developers or DevOps engineers need to take care of all the required infrastructure. The option we recommend is to use Meteor Cloud. Meteor Cloud saves you time and money by effectively reducing DevOps expenses to zero, all with the peace of mind that your app is hosted with the team behind Meteor.js. The only hosting solution built with Meteor.js in mind with features such as Push to Deploy, Auto Scaling, Meteor APM, and SEO Optimization.
What sparked the idea, and what have you achieved so far?
Meteor.js was initially created by MDG (Meteor Development Group). They recognized the need for a framework that made it easier to build real-time web applications, which were becoming increasingly popular at the time. They saw that existing frameworks did not provide the level of integration between the front-end and back-end that was necessary for real-time applications, so they set out to create a new framework that did.
Since its initial release in 2012, Meteor has gained a large and active community of developers and has been used to build many popular real-time web applications. Some notable companies and applications built with Meteor include CodeSignal, Lemlist, and Rocket.chat.