Convex is a comprehensive cloud-based backend platform designed to integrate and manage various aspects of application development, including the database, server functions, and real-time updates. Here’s a detailed overview of what Convex does and its key features:
What Convex Does
Convex is more than just a database; it is a full cloud backend solution that replaces traditional database, server functions, and backend functionality. It provides a unified platform for building, deploying, and managing web and mobile applications.
Key Features and Functionality
Database
Convex uses a custom, document-relational database engine that supports live reactivity, incremental schema, and automatic scaling. The database is designed to track all dependencies for every query function, ensuring real-time updates whenever any dependency changes.
Functions
Convex functions are the core of its backend and are written in JavaScript or TypeScript. There are three main types of functions:
- Queries: These read data from the database and are automatically cached and subscribable, providing real-time updates. Queries are reactive and ensure that the frontend stays up-to-date with the latest data.
- Mutations: These write data to the database and run as transactions, ensuring that either all changes are committed or none are. This ensures data integrity and consistency.
- Actions: These can call external services like OpenAI, Stripe, or any other API needed. Actions do not have the same real-time and transactional guarantees as queries and mutations but are designed to work seamlessly within the Convex backend.
Real-Time Updates
Convex’s real-time capability is powered by its sync engine, which reruns query functions whenever any input to the function changes. This ensures that any active subscription on the client is updated automatically, providing a live and reactive user experience.
Client Libraries and Integration
Convex provides client libraries that allow the frontend to register and listen to query updates through WebSockets, enabling fast real-time updates. This integration supports various languages, including TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, and Rust, with additional support for HTTP clients for other languages.
Server-Side Execution
Convex functions run server-side in an isolated execution environment within the Convex database itself. This provides direct and efficient access to the underlying data, as well as to scheduling, storage, and general-purpose actions.
Scalability and Durability
Convex is designed to scale automatically, and its durability is ensured by a write-ahead log stored persistently on AWS RDS. This setup guarantees data consistency and availability.
External Service Integration
Convex allows seamless integration with external services through its actions. This enables developers to incorporate functionalities from services like OpenAI, Stripe, or Twilio into their applications.
Open Source
Convex is open-source, allowing developers to clone, build, and run the backend on their own hardware. Additional resources, including client libraries and demo projects, are available on GitHub.
In summary, Convex offers a robust and integrated platform for building modern web and mobile applications, focusing on real-time data updates, transactional integrity, and seamless integration with external services.