From: Matt C <canimal@...>
Date: 2005-06-23T02:40:37+09:00
Subject: Q: writing a web chat room--sharing info?

New to Ruby, and haven't tried anything like this before.

I'd like to write a web page that acts like a "chat room".  (Actually, 
I'd like to write a game that incorporates the chat room idea, but first 
things first.)  Nothing unusual here: a big window that shows what other 
people have typed, and a small textbox below where you can type your own 
messages.  This can be done with ajax, there are some examples on the web 
(but not Ruby ones, that I found anyway).

I'm not sure what the best way to share info between the different web 
users is.  There are several possibilities I can think of: use a text 
file, use a database, write a daemon, use memcache.

I'm leaning toward using a database at this point because 1) there won't 
be issues finding hosting if I use a db, and 2) I have experience with 
databases, unlike daemons and memcache.  Still, it seems like overkill to 
go in and out of a database when all I really want is shared access to an 
array.

Does anybody have a better idea, or other suggestions?

Also, a completely unrelated question for those who read this far.  I 
notice there seem to be two competing Ruby conventions for naming 
methods.  My copy of the Pickaxe book (first edition) uses 
mixedCaseNaming.  Other sources (Ruby itself, frex) use 
underscore_naming.  Is one of these prevalent, or is it whichever you 
like better?

Thanks for any advice,

Matt