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In this video, we’re going to go over what exactly Firebase is and we’ll cover some of Firebase’s core features. If you already know about Firebase and want to see how to use it, you might want to skip the rest of this workshop and check out the other resources linked in the Teacher’s Notes below.
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[SOUND] Hello, I'm Michael Lustig, and
today, I'm going to introduce you to
0:04
Firebase and hopefully get you as
excited about using it as I am.
0:08
In order to truly understand how
powerful a tool Firebase is,
0:11
we first have to understand
exactly what it does.
0:14
Firebase started is
a realtime no SQL database,
0:18
meaning that all changes made
to your data will instantly, or
0:21
as quickly as possible,
proliferate to all users of your app.
0:23
Being in no SQL database means that with
Firebase, your data is stored as JSON and
0:27
doesn't have a strict schema.
0:32
This can be both a positive and negative,
depending on your intended usage.
0:34
We'll cover some of the ways to
decide if Firebase is right for
0:38
you in the next video.
0:40
The realtime nature of Firebase
technology brings endless possibilities.
0:42
Perhaps you wanna add chat
functionality to your application.
0:46
Or maybe you need changes to a shopping
list to be instantly synchronized amongst
0:48
all interested parties.
0:52
Before Firebase,
this would be an enormous endeavor.
0:54
Not only would you have to write the code
to handle the updates to the data itself,
0:57
but you'd also have to take into account
things like flakey network connection,
1:00
data integrity, and
1:03
all kinds of other headaches that just
aren't there when using Firebase.
1:04
As if that wasn't enough reason to start
using Firebase in your applications,
1:08
Firebase is now backed and powered
by Google's enormous infrastructure.
1:11
At Google io in 2016, Google announced it
had integrated Firebase into its already
1:15
expansive suite of tools for developers.
1:20
Just a few of the new tools that Google's
acquisition brought to Firebase include
1:22
analytics, crash reporting,
push notifications, cloud messaging, and
1:25
cloud storage, amongst many others.
1:30
Rather than getting into the specifics
of how do you use those features in
1:33
your application, I'm just going to
introduce them in this workshop.
1:36
If you're already familiar with Firebase
and wanna learn how to use it in your app,
1:39
please check out our workshops
linked in the teacher's notes.
1:43
Although Firebase offers all
the features I just listed and much,
1:46
much more, you don't have to include
all of them in your project.
1:49
And in fact, that isn't even an option.
1:52
Google knows that not everyone wants
to use every feature of Firebase in
1:54
every project, so
they offer each a la carte.
1:58
Including the features you wanna
use couldn't be easier either, and
2:01
we will talk more in
depth about set up for
2:04
each individual platform in those
workshops linked in the teacher's notes.
2:06
To show off how simple creating
a project with Firebase is,
2:10
the team at Google will often create
a cross platform app from scratch
2:13
on stage during their presentations.
2:16
You can watch one of those
videos by clicking on the link
2:18
in the teacher's notes.
2:21
When I first came across Firebase,
I thought to myself that this is just how
2:22
things should work when
developing applications.
2:26
It really should be this easy to
synchronize all of your data across
2:29
all devices using your application.
2:32
Whether you're an indie developer trying
to put together a minimum viable product,
2:34
a huge company that is just looking
to add the finishing touch on their
2:38
already successful application.
2:41
Or perhaps just sprinting
through a weekend hackathon,
2:44
Firebase can add value to your product and
save you time and frustration.
2:46
Trust me, I've been in all of those
situations, and Firebase is again and
2:50
again the answer I arrive at.
2:55
In the next video, I'm going to go into
a little more depth about how some of
2:57
the main features of Firebase work.
3:01
We'll also discuss the seamless
scaling that Firebase offers,
3:03
should your next idea take off.
3:06
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