Firebase Launches Data Synchronization Backend Platform for App Development

Firebase has taken its hosted cloud data synchronization backend platform out of beta, offering a limited free product with a paid pricing structure starting at $49 per month.

Firebase utilizes a data synchronization backend as opposed to more traditional request/ response models. Whenever data is updated, all users are notified within milliseconds. The synchronized data is also persisted, allowing new clients to be instantly updated.

Developers install Firebase by including a library in their apps, which provides a data structure that is automatically synchronized between all of users and the Firebase servers. The platform supports web, iOS, OS X, and Android apps. It has a Node.js and a Java library designed for server-side use

Firebase apps can be written entirely with client-side code, update in real-time out-of-the-box, and scaled automatically. App data is stored as standard JSON, and the Firebase client libraries and REST API provide access to that data from any platform. If a device loses its connection, Firebase continues to allow access to locally cached data and seamlessly resynchronizes changes with the cloud when the device comes back online.