From: Michael Neumann <neumann@...>
Date: 2001-12-19T21:34:23+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:28899] Re: Best way to do XML-RPC

Michael Sullivan wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm trying to promote the use of Ruby on a project I'm working on.
> Since I'm relatively new with the language, I'd like to hear what
> others' thoughts are.  From what I've seen and done, I like the language
> much better than Perl - can do more easier especially when dealing with
> code in an Object Oriented way, too many OOP hoops to jump through to
> force Perl to perform OO.
> 
> I was wondering what the various opinions of doing XML-RPC are.  I may
> have non-Ruby applications connecting to my XML-RPC server such as Perl,
> or Java.  So a couple of questions/thoughts:
> 
> Should I use a "stand-alone" server or CGI server?

Using a CGI or FastCGI server with an Apache server gives you more power/speed 
and functionality, e.g. SSL encryption using mod_ssl, or password authentification 
to mention only two.

But this depends on what you need. 

> Why?
> 
> CGI or mod_ruby?

FastCGI !
* CGI is too slow, and mod_ruby reaches not the performance of a
  FastCGI based server. 
* I don't know the state of mod_ruby if it's stable or not. 

> What are the benefits and drawbacks of them?

Both cannot handle persistent data or database connections, FastCGI can.
(I am not sure if mod_ruby can handle it or not).

> Should I use SOAP4R?

Depends on your usage. There are far more XML-RPC interfaces for other
langages available (see www.xmlrpc.com),  and they are usually smaller and 
faster (parsing the XML stuff). 

> On a related note, is there any way to have a persistent database
> connection using mod_ruby?  Has anyone done this, or thought about how?
> Global variables?  Shared memory?

With FastCGI this is possible; or using a standalone Ruby (web-)server.

> Might a persistent database conenction be one reason why I might want to
> use a stand-alone XML-RPC server?  The thought of using threads  for
> multiple incoming connections RPC bothers me a bit, though - I know one
> can do this single threaded, but I'm wondering about load and
> scalability.

If you need real power then use Apache together with FastCGI. 

Regards,

  Michael

-- 
Michael Neumann
merlin.zwo InfoDesign GmbH
http://www.merlin-zwo.de