The REPL 55: Instant: a modern Firebase in Clojure, with Stepan Parunashvili
Oct 18, 2024
Stepan Parunashvili, creator of InstantDB and an experienced engineer, dives deep into building modern applications. He breaks down the unique features of Instant, a Clojure-based real-time database, and discusses its architecture's comparison to tools like Firebase. The conversation touches on innovative data management solutions, including the new query language InstaQL, and the collaboration of TypeScript with Clojure in frontend development. Stepan also shares insights from his startup experience, emphasizing community and open-source contributions.
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Open Source Core, Host The Service
- Open source your backend so users can self-host and fix bugs themselves if needed.
- Run a hosted service competing on operational excellence to attract users who prefer convenience.
Object-Level Permissions With CEL
- Instant enforces object-level permissions using Google CEL rules evaluated per namespace.
- CEL provides sandboxed, fast, non-Turing-complete policy checks attached to objects.
InstaQL: JS-Shaped Queries And Mutations
- InstaQL is a GraphQL-like JS data-shape query language with built-in transactions and optimistic updates.
- The frontend uses normal JavaScript objects instead of a custom query language for simplicity.