Architecture, system and method for a messaging hub in a real-time web application framework

#This application is related to the co-pending applications entitled ARCHITECTURE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING REAL TIME WEB APPLICATION FRAMEWORK SOCKET concurrently filed on Nov. 25, 2009, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/626,464; ARCHITECTURE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING REAL TIME WIDGETS IN A WEB APPLICATION FRAMEWORK, concurrently filed on Nov. 25, 2009, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/626,471; ARCHITECTURE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REAL-TIME WEB APPLICATION FRAMEWORK WITH A PLUG-IN ARCHITECTURE, concurrently filed on Nov. 25, 2009, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/626,502; and ARCHITECTURE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REAL-TIME WEB APPLICATIONS, concurrently filed on Nov. 25, 2009, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/626,497.

#Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of web applications, and more particularly, to providing messaging hub in a real-time web application framework.

#Information is commonly exchanged over the internet via web applications run in web browsers. Often these applications intend to make web pages feel interactive by exchanging small amounts of data with a server acting on the other side of a client machine. The information exchange usually occurs when a web application requests data and/or requests updates from the server. Thus, web applications that obtain, display, and distribute data in real time incur computational expense and compute cycles at a client side web browser, in order to process and issue requests. Furthermore, computing expenses are also consumed at a web server when handling and/or responding to web browser requests. Often the computational costs imposed on both the web browser and server computer are for naught, as new or updated data may not be available.

#The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the invention, which, however, should not be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiments, but are for explanation and understanding only.

#FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an exemplary system architecture for providing real-time web applications.

#FIG. 1B is a block diagram of an exemplary system architecture for providing real-time web applications.

#A method and apparatus for providing a hub in a real-time web application framework is described. In one embodiment, the method includes running applications on a hub server computer system within a real-time web application framework. The method may also include running each application based on configuration parameters associated with each application, the hub server computer system running the applications outside of a web application stack run on a web server computer system of the real-time web application framework.

#FIG. 1A is a block diagram of exemplary system architecture 100 for providing real-time web applications. In one embodiment, the system includes a real time application framework 110, clients 102, and external resources 140. The framework 110, external resources 140, and clients 102 may be coupled to a computer network 104 that communicates via any of the standard protocols for the exchange of information.

#In one embodiment, real time application framework 110 is responsible for creating and distributing real-time web applications embedded in web pages, and for creating an environment for application programmers to create web applications. In one embodiment, the real time web applications include framework widgets provided to clients, such as client 102, from real time application framework 110. In one embodiment, a framework widget is a live web component that is updated in real time in response to receiving data messages, and processes the message in a graphical user interface of client 102. In one embodiment, the updates correspond to topic subscriptions of the framework widgets. In one embodiment, a topic is an abstraction of a messaging queue or message broker, and thus a framework widget subscribes to receiving data messages from the corresponding message queue or message broker.