B. Realtime Database

Firebase Realtime Database

Store and sync data with Firebase's NoSQL cloud database. Data is synced across all clients in realtime, and remains available when your app goes offline.

The Firebase Realtime Database is a cloud-hosted database. Data is stored as JSON and synchronized in realtime to every connected client. When you build cross-platform apps with Firebase's iOS, Android, and JavaScript SDKs, all of your clients share one Realtime Database instance and automatically receive updates with the newest data.

Key functions

Function	Description
Realtime	Instead of typical HTTP requests, the Firebase Realtime Database uses data synchronization every time data changes, any connected device receives that update within milliseconds. Provide collaborative and immersive experiences without thinking about networking code.
Offline	Firebase apps remain responsive even when offline because the Firebase Realtime Database SDK persists your data to disk. Once connectivity is reestablished, the client device receives any changes it missed, synchronizing it with the current server state.
Accessible from Client Devices	The Firebase Realtime Database can be accessed directly from a mobile device or web browser; there's no need for an application server. Security and data validation are available through the Firebase Realtime Database Security Rules, expression-based rules that are executed when data is read or written.

How does it work?

The Firebase Realtime Database lets you build rich, collaborative applications by allowing secure access to the database directly from client-side code. Data is persisted locally, and even while offline, realtime events continue to fire, giving the end user a responsive experience. When the device regains connection, the Realtime Database synchronizes the local data changes with the remote updates that occurred while the client was offline, merging any conflicts automatically.

The Realtime Database provides a flexible, expression-based rules language, called Firebase Realtime Database Security Rules, to define how your data should be structured and when data can be read from or written to. When integrated with Firebase Authentication, developers can define who has access to what data, and how they can access it.

The Realtime Database is a NoSQL database and as such has different optimizations and functionality compared to a relational database. The Realtime Database API is designed to only allow operations that can be executed quickly. This enables you to build a great realtime experience that can serve millions of users without compromising on responsiveness. Because of this, it is important to think about how users need to access your data and then structure it accordingly.

Implementation path

Step	Description
Integrate the Firebase Realtime Database SDKs	Quickly include clients via well polished ANEs from Myflashlabs.
Create Realtime Database References	Reference your JSON data, such as "users/user:1234/phone_number" to set data or subscribe to data changes.
Set Data and Listen for Changes	Use this reference to write data or subscribe to changes.
Enable Offline Persistence	Allow data to be written to the device's local disk so it can be available while offline.
Secure your data	Use Firebase Realtime Database Security Rules to secure your data.

Get started with Firebase Realtime database in AdobeAIR

DISCRIMINATION: Firebase SDKs are developed by Google and they own every copyright to the Firebase "native" projects. However, we have used their "compiled" native SDKs to develop the ActionScript API to be used in AdobeAIR mobile projects. Moreover, as far as the documentations, we have copied and when needed has modified the Google documents so it will fit the needs of AdobeAIR community. If you wish to see the original documentations in Android/iOS, visit here. But if you are interested to do things in AdobeAIR, then you are in the right place.

Enjoy building Air apps – With ♥ from MyFlashLabs Team