Rewrite of etherpad-lite with next.js
This project is a rewrite of etherpad-lite with next.js and tailwindcss.
Note: This project is under development and not ready for production So take attention when this post is published to understand the current state of the project.
What is Etherpad-lite?
Etherpad is a highly customizable Open Source online editor providing collaborative editing in real-time. It is a web-based editor featuring collaborative editing in real-time.
How it's actually working?
Etherpad-lite is a Node.js application that uses the express framework. It uses the socket.io library to handle real-time communication between clients and the server. The front-end is built with jQuery.
Why a rewrite?
On Etherpad-lite V2, @SamTV12345 rewrote the back-end in typescript and fixed some bugs congratulations to him 🎉. But the front-end is still in jQuery and the codebase is not easy to maintain.
I saw the typescript pr and I thought it was a good opportunity help. So I helped him with reviewing the code.
After that Sam contacted me to propose me to rewrite the front-end in next.js. I accepted because I love next.js and I love Open Source.
So we start to discuss about the project. Frist reseach it's not about the technology but about about the name of the project. First idea i proposed was etherpad-nextbut i also propose etherpad-under-steroide but we finally choose etherpad-next for logical reason.
On next, I put the basic of the infrastructure and the basic of the front-end. And it's at this moment that we select the technologies that we will use.
Which technologies are used?
- Next.js as meta-framework it's allow us to do back-end and front-end in the same framework.
- Tailwindcss as css library. It's a utility-first css framework.
- TypeScript as language. It's a superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript. It's allow us to have a readable and maintainable codebase.
- next-ws it's a patch for next.js to allow us to use websockets on route handler. It's awesome because we didn't have to use express or socket.io. Thanks to @apteryxxyz
- Prisma as ORM. It's allow us to have a better database management and a better codebase. Also it's create typescript types for us.
If you want to have better understanding of the project you can go to the technical documentation
⚠️ Backward compatibility ⚠️ ?
It's important to reduce breaking changes bettween etherpad-lite and etherpad-next.
We will try to keep the backward compatibility with etherpad-lite. But it's not a priority. We will focus on the new features and the new design.
What I want to keep backward compatibility?
- Multiple db support for the project. But now Prisma isn't supporting multiple db. So we will have to find a solution. And for moment we only support MySQL.
- Plugins support. We will try to keep the same plugin system but we didn't know if it's possible.
- Moodle integration. Moodle is a popular LMS. We will try to keep the same integration but we didn't know if it's possible.
OpenSSF Scorecard
We will try to have a good score on the OpenSSF Scorecard. It's important to have a secure project. We will try to have a good score. It also proposes a security overview of the project.
Conclusion
I'm very happy to work on this project. I think it's a good opportunity to learn new technologies and to help the Open Source community.
Also big thanks to @SamTV12345 for the opportunity to work on this project. And it was a pleasure to meet him.
I hope that this project will be a success and that it will be used by many people.
Note: Your feedback is important to us. So don't hesitate to open an issue on the github repository. We will be happy to discuss with you. Also if you want to contribute to the project you can open a PR. We will be happy to review it.