DCM: Dynamic Client-Server Code Migration

This is the online appendix for all publications related to DCM:

1. Submitted to Journal of Web Engineering: Heil, S., Schröder, L., Gaedke, M.: Client-Server Code Mobility at Runtime.
2. Heil, S., Gaedke, M.: DCM: Dynamic Client-Server Code Migration. Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Web Engineering, ICWE 2023, pp. 3-18, 2023.

The repository contains the DCM infrastructure implemented in Go, the evaluation projects and scripts in the following repository structure:

• wasm-builder the DCM infrastructure for compiling code fragments
• project a sample project that can be used with the DCM infrastructure, containing
  • project/backend/src/codedistribution the DCM runtime infrastructure
  • project/backend/src/webserver a sample web shop application showcasing the integration of DCM into web applications
• evaluation the evaluation and data containing
  • evaluation/icwe2023 the evaluation and data as referenced in "DCM: Dynamic Client-Server Code Migration"
    • evaluation/icwe2023/GenerationTime samples and scripts used for scenario I
    • evaluation/icwe2023/NetworkTime samples and scripts used for scenario II
    • evaluation/icwe2023/ExecutionTime samples and scripts used for scenario III
    • evaluation/icwe2023/measurements the raw evaluation data
  • evaluation/jwe2023 the evaluation and data as referenced in "Client-Server Code Mobility at Runtime"
    • evaluation/jwe2023/GenerationTime samples and scripts used for scenario I
    • evaluation/jwe2023/NetworkTime samples and scripts used for scenario II
    • evaluation/jwe2023/ExecutionTime samples and scripts used for scenario III
    • evaluation/jwe2023/ComparisonTime samples and scripts used for scenarion IV
    • evaluation/jwe2023/measurements the raw evaluation data

To enable easy replication, we are using Docker. Follow the instructions below and in the readme files in the subdirectories to try it out yourself.

How to use

The WASM-Builder and your project are required to use the same Go version in order to use Go plugins.

The runtime needs to be the same. The package version of the packages used inside the Go plugins are required to be the same like currently installed. Update the Go version of the Go image correspondingly.

1. Build wasm-builder image

cd ./wasm-builder

build image (takes ~40s):
docker-compose build --no-cache build_current
>> for older docker version
docker-compose -f ./docker-compose.old.yaml build --no-cache build_current

clear dangling images afterwards:
docker rmi $(docker images -q -f "dangling=true" -f "label=autodelete=true")

2. Build wasm files with the wasm-builder image

cd ../project

Adjust environment variables inside the docker-compose file - this is already done.
The environment variable paths are relative to the path which you mount into the /usr/app directory. The mounted directory should have read, write and execute permissions for user,group and others before it gets mounted. (chmod 777 <hostPath>)

build-wasm:
  image: sebastianheil/wasm-builder:<version>
  environment:
    - CFD=<path/to/cdf/file>
    - WWW=<path/to/public/folder>
    - PLUGINS=<path/to/codedistribution>
  working_dir: /usr/app
  volumes:
    - <hostPath>:/usr/app
  entrypoint: wasmbuilder
  command: all

create wasm files
docker-compose run --rm build-wasm
>> for older docker version
docker-compose -f ./docker-compose.old.yaml run --rm build-wasm

3. Start Go web server

start Go web server
docker-compose run --rm --service-ports go-server
>> for older docker version
docker-compose -f ./docker-compose.old.yaml run --rm --service-ports go-server

Navigate to the URL as prompted in the console.

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Alexander Senger as main contributor to the proof-of-concept implementation of the DCM architecture and the evaluation experiments.