Hi you all, is there any plugin or extension to create P2P applications with Rails? Such as JXTA for Java? Thanks.
While I wouldn't say it's impossible, I would say that Peer-to-Peer (P2P) is outside the scope of Rails. Rails is a web application framework (server-side) and wouldn't be the technology I would choose for building a P2P network. Although, a Rails application could certainly play a role in the P2P network. You still need some client- side applications to act as the peers.
Consider a simple P2P network like an instant messenger where each peer runs an application that sends messages to another peer running the same (or other compatible) application. You might be able to force- fit a Rails application to this purpose, but it would seem to me to be the wrong technology for the job.
In that same case there is usually a centralized "server" that allows the peers to find each other on the network. Maybe a Rails application would be a good fit there. But, that's not actually what I would call a pure P2P network where messages, or files would be transmitted directly from one peer to another without the need for a central server.
I'm not aware of any plugins for Rails similar to JXTA. That would be more like searching for a plugin for Struts that is similar to JXTA. What I mean is that whatever that would be would probably not be for Rails but for Ruby in the same way that JXTA is a library for Java and not some Java based web application framework.
Maybe a better way to ask your question is to fill us in on what you are actually trying to do. Just asking about P2P is a pretty broad subject. You could quite easily build a P2P between two web applications using a REST API and ActiveResource. That's pretty common and is, technically, a P2P network, but maybe not in the sense you're referring.
I would create P2P applications with Ruby, rather than Rails. One could make the comparison that Rails is more like mininova.org where Ruby is more like Transmission/Azereus.
